BOSTON -- Massachusetts legislators said they are considering raising the $1.51-a-pack state cigarette tax to pay for the state's near-universal health care initiative, reported The Republican.
Tobacco Free Massachusetts, a nonprofit coalition, is proposing to raise the tax by $1 a pack and is planning to launch a campaign this month to back the effort, said the report.
"I think we have to strongly consider it," State Senator Stephen J. Buoniconti (D) told the newspaper. "The reality is the expansion of health care is becoming a budget buster."
The cigarette tax in Massachusetts [image-nocss] is ranked No. 15 in the nation. When the tax was increased by 75 cents in 2002, the state briefly had the highest cigarette tax. If it rises by $1, it will be the second highest in the country, following New Jersey at $2.58 a pack.
Governor Deval L. Patrick said last week that he discussed a possible cigarette tax increase with House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi (D) and Senate President Therese Murray (D).
State Representative Todd M. Smola (R) said the state should be more creative about paying for programs. He said it's a bad idea to raise the cigarette tax.
"It's gouging the consumer," Smola told the paper. "It hits people in the pocketbook. I'm not a fan of any tax."
State Rep. Daniel E. Bosley (D) said he is concerned that people would drive to other states such as New Hampshire to buy cigarettes if the tobacco tax was increased in Massachusetts. Massachusetts has the lowest cigarette tax in New England, except for New Hampshire. "You don't want to raise it so much you end up sending people over the border," Bosley said. "You'll hit a breaking point where it's easier for people to get cigarettes elsewhere."
And State Rep. Sean F. Curran (D) said a $1-a-pack increase is too steep. "We have to explore all options," Curran told the paper. "Should we penalize people for smoking when it's our job to look for alternative sources of revenues?"
State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian (D) has a bill to raise the cigarette tax by $1.
Co-sponsors include State Reps. John W. Scibak (D); Peter V. Kocot (D); Stephen Kulik (D); and Denis E. Guyer (D). State Rep. Benjamin Swan (D) said he could support $1 a pack increase in the cigarette tax.
Legislators and activists in several other states are also currently mulling cigarette tax increases. Lawmakers in Mississippi are talking about reviving an effort, vetoed by Governor Haley Barbour in 2006, to raise the state's cigarette tax, said the Associated Press. The 2006 bill would have raised the 18-cents-a-pack excise tax on cigarettes and cut the state's 7% grocery tax. There are at least five tobacco tax bills referred to House Ways & Means Chairman Percy Watson's (D) committee.
Barbour, a Republican, just started his second term as governor. He is a former Washington lobbyist whose clients included some tobacco companies. He has said repeatedly that he is opposed to raising taxes.
The Coalition of Communities for a Clean Bill of Health wants a $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes. The coalition has gained an ally in the Mississippi Hospital Association, which is more vocal in its support of a cigarette tax this year as better option than taxing the state's public and private hospitals.
Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, a fellow Republican, presides over the Senate where a roadblock is waiting for any tobacco tax bills. Bryant said it's ''very unlikely'' a cigarette tax would make it out of the Senate until a commission appointed by Barbour completes a study of the state's tax structure in August.
Health groups in Kansas support raising the Kansas cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack; however, representatives of the tobacco industry, anti-tax groups and merchants said that was a bad idea, especially along the Kansas-Missouri border, where the tax is only 17 cents a pack in Missouri, but 79 cents in Kansas, said The Star. The Missouri tax is the second lowest in the nation.
Gary Krueger, who owns a service station in Kansas City and another in Overland Park, testified against the increase before the House Tax Committee.Krueger said he saw a significant decrease in Kansas sales when the last tax increase, in 2002, raised the Kansas tax to $7.20 a carton, compared with $3.20 in Missouri.
“I expect that another cigarette tax increase will have the same effect,” he said, according to the report.
Supporting the tax increase were the American Cancer Society, the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians, the Kansas Medical Society, the Kansas Health Consumer Coalition and the American Hearth Association.
Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proposed the tax increase to fund 21 health-care reforms sought by the Health Policy Authority to expand access to health care; however, most lawmakers say there aren 't enough votes to support the bill.
Legislation that would raise the Kentucky cigarette tax 70 cents is not generating much support among Northern Kentucky lawmakers, reported The Enquirer.
State Rep. David Watkins (D) filed the bill to raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $1. The increase would raise about $200 million for a state budget facing shortfalls of about $1 billion over the next two years.
"The cigarette tax increase is a real possibility," said House Speaker Jody Richards (D).
"You increase the tax, you lose money on other things," said State Rep. Sal Santoro (R). "People come over from Ohio now because our [cigarette] taxes are lower and they buy gas, beer and other things. You raise the cigarette tax, we lose that business as well."
State Rep. Arnold Simpson (D) said, "People are beginning to talk about cigarette taxes, but as long as the governor is not supportive of the concept and Senate leadership continues to make statements negating the possibilities, I don't think it will get traction here."
Simpson pointed out the tax was raised three years ago from 3 cents to 30 cents and it may be too soon to consider another increase.
And historically tobacco-friendly South Carolina is considering an increase in the lowest cigarette tax in the nation, AP reported.
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