Indiana recouping more money from tobacco settlement after agreement reached

Indiana is set to recoup some of the money it had lost in tobacco lawsuit payouts after an agreement was reached between Attorney General Greg Zoeller and tobacco companies.

Zoeller announced Thursday that the state would get back $25 million in funds for 2014 and get paid a total of $124 million for 2015. Starting in 2019, annual payments should range between $110 and $115 million.

Members of the national board tasked with distributing the funds from the Master Tobacco Settlement had said that Indiana and other states were not doing enough to collect settlement money from small tobacco manufacturers. At the time, federal arbitrators decided Indiana would lose $63 million in 2014.

The money is used to pay for tobacco cessation and public health programs.