WASHINGTON -- A new national poll finds voters support a 75-cent-per pack federal cigarette tax increase to provide health care coverage to uninsured children. Approximately two-thirds (67%) favor such an increase, while 28% oppose it, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The group claims that this support is evident among every political and demographic subgroup of voters across the country, with majorities of Democrats, Republicans and Independents, men and women, urban and rural voters supporting the cigarette tax to fund children's health [image-nocss] care. The 75-cent increase garners about the same level of support as a 30-cent increase (70%), but the larger increase would result in significantly larger public health benefits, said the group.
The current federal cigarette tax rate is 39 cents per pack. Congress has not enacted legislation increasing the federal cigarette tax since the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (which phased in a 15-cent increase in 2000 and 2002). As a result, after adjusting for inflation, the federal cigarette tax is currently lower than historical levels and much lower as a percentage of overall retail cigarette prices, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids said.
Click here to view detailed poll results.
But while many U.S. senators anticipate bipartisan support for a proposed cigarette-tax hike to help pay for expanding children's health insurance coverage, a small but powerful group of Republicans is vowing to fight any tax increase on principle, even a new tax to help fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), reported The Hill.
I'm not in favor of raising taxes, period, said Senator Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.). Chambliss and fellow Republicans make clear that they share Democrats' desire to cover low-income children. But ideological resistance to new taxes, even on the politically vulnerable tobacco industry, clouds the picture for the new SCHIP bill, which must be finished by September and could cost up to $50 billion.
It's incumbent upon us to present options for how you get there, how you fix healthcare, without raising taxes, Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) told the newspaper.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose home state's cigarette tax shot up tenfold in 2005, recently reflected the less than optimistic mood of the tax hike's opponents. Most people don't like taxes, but if [people] said, What's your favorite tax?' [the tobacco levy] would probably be it, McConnell said recently.
McConnell predicted a battle over raising cigarette taxes and emphasized that he would not support any plan to do so, but acknowledged, I expect that they'll enjoy considerable support.
A March test vote on cigarette-tax language passed, 59-40. Still, six of the nine Republicans on the Finance Committee, not counting the late Sen. Craig Thomas (Wyo.), voted against the cigarette tax hike earlier this year, said the report. One Finance Democrat, Sen. Ken Salazar (Colo.), stressed that the SCHIP bill is not yet complete and said he has not committed to endorsing any funding source.
A tax is a tax is a tax, Senate Minority Whip Trent Lott (R-Miss.) said. We don't need more taxes. Lott revealed a possible key to persuading enough Republicans to swallow an ideologically anathema tax increase: Do not allow SCHIP to cover parents as well as children, as many lawmakers would like. Limiting the program to children also would deflate GOP agitation over using a new tax to expand a government program, which conservatives are likely to find doubly problematic, said the report.
Cigarettes are an easy target, but a lot of states keep raising their [tobacco] taxes, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) said. Sooner or later, smokers aren't going to pay for every government service.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a Finance member, harkened back to the March vote and predicted that the momentum for SCHIP would overwhelm any anti-tax forces.
The political stars also may have aligned against the tobacco industry and its allies, convenience stores and other retailers, the Hill reported. Health insurance, doctors' and hospital groups have joined unions and the influential advocacy group Families USA to press for the cigarette tax increase. Meanwhile, four of the tobacco industry's top five beneficiaries of campaign contributions during the 2006 election cycle lost their races.
Tobacco companies, undaunted by Democratic control of the Capitol, are pressing forward with a lobbying campaign to convince senators to look elsewhere. John Singleton, a spokesperson for Reynolds American, acknowledged that McConnell was correct in pointing out the high public support for new cigarette taxes. Approximately the percentage of the population that doesn't smoke and won't have to pay the tax is in favor of raising the tax, Singleton told the paper. It's pretty easy to say we're going to target these low-to-moderate income people who are a minority of the population. We don't think that makes it right.
The March vote revealed unexpected converts to and foes of the tax on both sides of the aisle. Sens. Thad Cochran (R-Miss.), Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), Mel Martinez (R-Fla.) and other conservatives voted for the potential tax increase, while Reid and Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) opposed it, said 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.