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The head of the N.C. Health and Wellness Trust Fund is leaving.

Vandana Shah joined the trust fund in 2001 as policy director and attorney and was appointed executive director in April 2007. 

The trust fund receives a quarter of the state's tobacco settlement funds and pays for programs to reduce tobacco use, curb obesity, eliminate health disparities and assist with prescriptions. The fund awards more than $30 million in grants and contract funding annually.

"Vandana has made a tremendous difference in the wellness of North Carolina's people," said Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat and former chairwoman of the Health and Wellness Trust Fund commission. "North Carolinians are healthier because of Vandana's efforts."

Shah has accepted a position with the Washington-based Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. She will manage tobacco advocacy and policy efforts in Southeast Asia.

A national search is underway for Shah's replacement. 

North Carolina's two senators have proposed a new agency regulate tobacco.

As an alternative to the possible regulation of tobacco products by the Food and Drug Administration. Republican Sen. Richard Burr and Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan filed a bill today that would create a Federal Tobacco Regulatory Agency.

The bill is an attempt to stave off legislation backed by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and President Obama that would give the FDA regulatory control over harmful chemicals and additives in cigarettes.

Both Burr and Hagan say that the FDA, which oversees such things as cosmetics, prescription drugs and vitamins, is overworked.

"The FDA is overburdened already, and lacks the capacity or the expertise to take on a large, complicated new industry," Hagan said in a statement. "I will not stand idly by while the FDA is put in charge of such a critical industry to North Carolina."

Winston-Salem-based tobacco company R.J. Reynolds opposes FDA regulation bill, although Virginia-based Philip Morris USA supports it.

Burr, who lives in Winston-Salem, has threatened to filibuster the bill, according to the Washington Post.

Previously: Hagan opposes FDA tobacco regulation during Senate campaign.

Cigarette taxes have become a popular source of state revenue.

According to research by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, 43 states, the District of Columbia and several U.S. territories have increased their cigarette tax rates more than 75 times since 2002, when many states faced tight budgets due to the recession.

Arturo Perez, a fiscal analyst with the National Conference of State Legislatures, said the tax has been targeted for several reasons: It is considered more voluntary than other taxes, smoking is considered unhealthy, and some groups believe the tax would cut smoking rates.

"It is a tax that is now viewed as something that is more palatable to voters," he said.

Perez said that the cigarette tax is the most frequently targeted of so-called "sin taxes" on junk food, alcohol and tobacco. In many cases, he said it is directed to anti-smoking programs and health care.

Gov. Mike Easley's proposed budget calls for increasing the state cigarette tax from 35 to 55 cents per pack. It is currently the seventh-lowest in the country.