North Dakota lawmakers questioned whether a ballot measure meant to discourage smoking would force them to pony up at least $18.6 million every two years to pay for new anti-tobacco initiatives.

The sum would more than double current spending on state efforts to fight tobacco use, by shifting money that now benefits water projects, schools and community health programs.

The Legislative Council, a panel of 17 Republican and Democratic lawmakers who oversee the Legislature's business between sessions, held hearings Wednesday on three citizen initiatives that North Dakotans will decide in the Nov. 4 election.

The hearings, which are required by state law, are intended to give voters information about each initiative's impact on the budget for North Dakota government.

For two of the three measures, the cost answers came readily. Measure 2, which would cut North Dakota's individual income tax rates in half and its corporate rates by 15 percent, would reduce income tax collections by $414.2 million over two years, the Tax Department estimated.

Measure 4, which gives the governor power to appoint the director of North Dakota's Workforce Safety and Insurance agency, does not affect the state budget, the Office of Management and Budget concluded.

However, lawmakers disagreed Wednesday about the best money answer for Measure 3, which seeks to establish a new state committee that would develop and oversee a comprehensive program to fight tobacco use.

The panel would finance its operations with a share of North Dakota's income from a 1998 lawsuit settlement against the nation's largest tobacco companies. Under current law, the money would be split among funds that benefit water projects, education and community health initiatives.

Supporters of the measure, including Sen. Joel Heitkamp, D-Hankinson, and Rep. Lee Kaldor, D-Mayville, said the proposal does not represent any added cost. It only shifts money from one fund to another, they said.

Kathleen Mangskau, a tobacco control expert and sponsor of the initiative, said calculations of the measure's cost should also include health expense savings as the number of tobacco users falls.

In a recent report, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which is supporting the measure, estimated its approval would save $113 million in smoking-related health care expenses over five years, including $11.9 million in Medicaid costs.

However, legislative skeptics of the measure wondered if it would force them to pay for whatever anti-tobacco program the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention deemed necessary.

The federal agency now recommends $18.6 million in spending every two years for an optimal North Dakota tobacco-control effort. The ballot measure says the program "must be funded at a level equal to or greater than the Centers for Disease Control recommended funding level."

If the tobacco fund established by the initiative does not have enough money to pay for the committee's favored tobacco control plan, North Dakota's treasurer must transfer money from a state water projects fund to make up the difference, the measure says.

Rosellen Sand, a sponsor of the measure, told legislators Wednesday that the initiative did not force the Legislature to finance an anti-tobacco program. However, she said she believed lawmakers' failure to do so would contradict voters' wishes if the measure is approved.

"All this bill does is put this money into a fund and create a committee to develop a plan," Sand said. "The Legislature could say, 'We're not going to appropriate anything.' I don't think you'll do that if this measure passes."