The cigarette tax could replace video poker as a source of construction money, according to a report from the Associated Press. The idea of legalizing video gambling at bars and truck stops proved unpopular and has been slow to get off the ground.
The Executive Committee [image-nocss] approved the measure 9-6, sending it to the Senate floor. Senate Minority Leader Christine Radogno, R-Lemont, said voting on the cigarette tax was "premature." She said Illinois has other sources of construction money already in place.
Other Republicans argued the increase would hit poor people the hardest or hurt small business.
Lawmakers approved the construction program in 2009 as a way to create jobs and repair aging roads, bridges and mass transit systems. Legal video gambling was included to help pay for the work. Now the entire program is under review by the Illinois Supreme Court. A lower court concluded the law violated a constitutional ban against including multiple unrelated subjects in one piece of legislation.
Cigarette taxes could be used to replace video gaming money in a revised version of the construction project. Senate President John Cullerton, D-Chicago, said he has prepared legislation to take that step, but he won't call a vote until he sees what happens to the tax increase, according to the report.
He and other supporters also argue higher cigarette taxes would discourage smoking and lower health costs for the state.
Frank J. Chaloupka, an economist at the University of Illinois-Chicago, estimated the tax would generate $352 million when fully implemented. It would decline 2.5% a year as people stop smoking, he told AP.
He denied businesses such as convenience stores would lose money but predicted state government would save $1.8 billion in smoking-related Medicaid costs.
"People respond to changes in prices," Chaloupka said. "It's the basic law of economics."
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