SPRINGFIELD, Ill. -- Just a day after seeking an increase in Illinois cigarette taxes, Democrats in the state Senate proposed an even bigger increase. They now want to raise the tax by 90 cents instead of 75 cents, the Associated Press said.
If approved, the increase would mean smokers would pay a $1.88 in state taxes on each pack of cigarettes.
Democrats want the bigger expansion partly because their original increase might not generate as much money as they expected. They hope to use the money for construction projects and health [image-nocss] care. The revised tax increase would generate roughly $350 million.
The bigger increase was approved 6-4 Thursday by the Revenue Committee and now goes to the Senate floor.
What's the number going to be tomorrow? State Senator Bill Brady (R) asked sarcastically.
We'd better vote on this quick, responded the sponsor, State Sen. John Cullerton (D).
And north of the Illinois border, the Wisconsin legislature is considering a state cigarette tax increase.
A report just released by public health organizations finds that increasing the state's cigarette tax by $1.25 a pack would dramatically reduce youth smoking, cause many adult smokers to quit, reduce tobacco-related healthcare expenses and save tens of thousands of lives, said Governor Jim Doyle, who with cancer survivors, doctors and others held a press conference in Madison announcing the report, which was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and Smoke-Free Wisconsin.
The 20-page report, Tobacco Tax Choices for Wisconsin: Continue Subsidizing Smoking or Save Lives and Save Money?, claims that a $1.25 cigarette tax increase would decrease youth smoking by 20.9% and raise $252 million in new revenue and produce $2 billion in long-term health care savings, among other findings.
Doyle has proposed a plan to increase the state cigarette tax by $1.25 and also increase funding for programs to prevent kids from smoking and help smokers quit. While the Senate has approved a budget that includes the cigarette tax increase and increased funding for tobacco prevention to $30 million a year, the budget approved earlier this month by the Assembly includes neither and in fact would cut funding for Wisconsin's Tobacco Prevention & Control program by 92% from the Governor's recommendation and Senate-approved level.
Wisconsin's current cigarette tax of 77 cents per pack is far below the national average of $1.073. Currently, eight states (including Michigan) have cigarette taxes of $2 per pack or higher. New Jersey has the highest state cigarette tax at $2.575 per pack, while several cities and counties have even higher combined state-local cigarette taxes, such as $3.66 per pack in Chicago. A total of 44 states have increased their cigarette taxes in recent years.
Click here to view the report.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.