(a) The Arkansas Tobacco Settlement Commission is directed to conduct monitoring and evaluation of the programs established in §§ 19-12-113 — 19-12-116 to ensure optimal impact on improving the health of Arkansans and fiscal stewardship of the Tobacco Settlement. The commission shall develop performance indicators to monitor programmatic functions that are state-specific and situation-specific and to support performance-based assessment for governmental accountability. The performance indicators shall reflect short-term and long-term goals and objectives of each program, be measurable, and provide guidance for internal programmatic improvement and legislative funding decisions. The commission is expected to modify these performance indicators as goals and objectives are met and new inputs to programmatic outcomes are identified.
(b) All programs funded by the tobacco settlement and established in §§ 19-12-113 — 19-12-116 shall be monitored and evaluated to justify continued support based upon the state's performance-based budgeting initiative. These programs shall be administered pursuant to a strategic plan encompassing the elements of a mission statement, defined programs, program goals with measurable objectives and strategies to be implemented over a specific timeframe. Evaluation of each program shall include performance-based measures for accountability that will measure specific health-related results. All expenditures that are payable from the Tobacco Settlement Program Fund and from each of the program accounts, therein, shall be subject to the same fiscal control, accounting, budgetary, and purchasing laws as are expenditures and obligations payable from State Treasury funds, except as specified otherwise in this chapter. The Chief Fiscal Officer of the State may require additional controls, procedures, and reporting requirements that he or she determines are necessary in order to carry out the intent of this chapter.
(c) The commission is directed to establish program goals in according with the following initiation, short-term and long-term performance indicators for each program to be funded by the tobacco settlement, which performance indicators shall be subject to modification by the commission based on specific situations and subsequent developments. Progress with respect to these performance indicators shall be reported to the Governor and the General Assembly for future appropriation decisions:
(1) Tobacco prevention and cessation: The goal is to reduce the initiation of tobacco use and the resulting negative health and economic impact. The following are anticipated objectives in reaching this overall goal:
(A) Initiation: The Department of Health is to start the program within six (6) months of available appropriation and funding;
(B) Short-term: Communities shall establish local tobacco prevention initiatives;
(C) Long-term: Surveys demonstrate a reduction in numbers of Arkansans who smoke and/or use tobacco.
(2) Medicaid Expansion: The goal is to expand access to healthcare through targeted Medicaid expansions, thereby improving the health of eligible Arkansans:
(A) Initiation: The Department of Human Services is to start the program initiatives within six (6) months of available appropriation and funding;
(B) Short-term: The Department of Human Services demonstrates an increase in the number of new Medicaid eligible persons participating in the expanded programs.
(C) Long-term: Demonstrate improved health and reduced long-term health costs of Medicaid eligible persons participating in the expanded programs;
(3) Research and health education: The goal is to develop new tobacco-related medical and agricultural research initiatives to improve the access to new technologies, improve the health of Arkansans, and stabilize the economic security of Arkansas:
(A) Initiation: The Arkansas Biosciences Institute Board shall begin operation of the Arkansas Biosciences Institute within twelve (12) months of available appropriation and funding;
(B) Short-term: The Arkansas Biosciences Institute shall initiate new research programs for the purpose of conducting, as specified in § 19-12-115, agricultural research with medical implications, bioengineering research, tobacco-related research, nutritional research focusing on cancer prevention or treatment, and other research approved by the Arkansas Biosciences Institute Board;
(C) Long-term: The institute's research results should translate into commercial, alternate technological, and other applications wherever appropriate in order that the research results may be applied to the planning, implementation and evaluation of any health related programs in the state. The Arkansas Biosciences Institute is also to obtain federal and philanthropic grant funding;
(4) Targeted state needs programs: The goal is to improve the healthcare systems in Arkansas and the access to healthcare delivery systems, thereby resolving critical deficiencies that negatively impact the health of the citizens of the state:
(A) College of Public Health of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences:
(i) Initiation: Increase the number of communities in which participants receive public health training;
(ii) Short-Term: Obtain federal and philanthropic grant funding;
(iii) Long-term: Elevate the overall ranking of the health status of Arkansas;
(B) Minority health initiative:
(i) Initiation: Start the program within twelve (12) months of available appropriation and funding;
(ii) Short-term: Prioritize the list of health problems and planned intervention for minority population and increase the number of Arkansans screened and treated for tobacco-related illnesses;
(iii) Long-term: Reduce death/disability due to tobacco-related illnesses of Arkansans;
(C) Donald W. Reynolds Center on Aging:
(i) Initiation: Start the program within twelve (12) months of available appropriation and funding;
(ii) Short-term: Prioritize the list of health problems and planned intervention for elderly Arkansans and increase the number of Arkansans participating in health improvement programs;
(iii) Long-term: Improve health status and decrease death rates of elderly Arkansans, as well as obtaining federal and philanthropic grant funding; and
(D) Area Health Education Center:
(i) Initiation: Start the new area health education center in Helena with DHEC offices in West Memphis and Lake Village within twelve (12) months of available appropriation and funding;
(ii) Short-term: Increase the number of communities and clients served through the expanded AHEC/DHEC offices;
(iii) Long-term: Increase the access to a primary care provider in underserved communities.