SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California State Senator Richard Pan (D) has introduced a bill in the state Senate to raise the cigarette tax by $2 per pack, reported the Associated Press. The distribution tax also would apply to electronic cigarettes.
Supporters say it would curb smoking deaths, and critics argue it would place an unnecessary burden on consumers and small businesses.
If approved, it would be California's first tobacco tax increase since 1998. The current tax is 87 cents per pack. The national average is $1.60 per pack and New York charges $4.35 per pack.
"With every 10% increase in cigarette prices, youth smoking rates decline by about 7%," said Pan, who is a pediatrician. "With that in mind, it makes no sense that 32 other states have a higher tax rate than California."
A Field Poll released August 26 found that California registered voters favored a $2-per-pack tobacco tax increase by a margin of 67% to 30%. The poll surveyed 1,555 voters and had a sampling error margin of plus or minus 2.6 percentage points.
If approved, the tax hike would raise an estimated $1.5 billion in its first year for state health services to low-income families, tobacco-related medical research and anti-smoking programs.
Proponents argue it would reduce tobacco use and save the state some of the billions of dollars spent each year on tobacco-related illnesses.
Opponents argue that the state doesn't need yet another tax increase on tobacco distributors as it continues recovering from the recession.
The bill was introduced during a special legislative session on health care along with a series of other tobacco-related measures.
Approval would require two-thirds approval by both houses and many Republican lawmakers have said they oppose a tax increase.
Supporters say if the tax doesn't pass in the legislature, they will take it to the voters. Last month, the secretary of state approved backers of an initiative to begin gathering signatures to place a tax question on the 2016 state ballot.
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