Virginia''s Tobacco Commission Finally Gets Needed Reforms

Source from:  Washingtonpost.com 05/19/2015

Virginia's infamous tobacco commission appears to be finally getting needed reforms 15 years after it went into existence.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) announced last week that he was appointing a new executive director, Lynchburg native Evan Feinman, ordering a slimmed -down board of directors and requiring a dollar-for-dollar match on grants the commission doles out to support community development in Virginia's old tobacco belt.

In another break with the past, McAuliffe is renaming the old Virginia Tobacco Indemnification and Community Revitalization Commission as the Virginia Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.

That might sound cosmetic, but any change is welcome given the commission's history.

Since its formation after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and four large cigarette makers, the commission has been spending millions of dollars won from the tobacco firms supposedly to help tobacco growers wean themselves off of the golden leaf toward economic projects that are far healthier.

Instead, the commission has been racked by scandal after scandal, including the conviction of a former director, John W. Forbes II, for embezzling $4 million in public money. He is now serving a 10-year jail sentence. Enditem