States

Arizona:
 
Arizona donors and businessmen backing tax increase initiative
Through a campaign called “First Things First,” prominent political donors and businessmen in Arizona are backing an initiative that would raise taxes on tobacco products to fund early childhood education programs. The initiative would increase the tax on tobacco products, including an 80-cent-per-pack increase on the cigarette tax. Click here for more information.

Delaware:
 
Delaware governor calls for 19 cent tax increase
Delaware Governor Ruth Ann Minner would like to increase the state cigarette tax by 19 cents per pack to discourage smoking, especially among youth. Click here for additional information.

Hawaii:
 
Tax increase passed in Hawaii
Hawaii has passed a bill that will increase the state cigarette tax to $1.80 per pack on January 1, 2007, $2.20 per pack on January 1, 2008 and $2.60 per pack on January 1, 2009. Twenty-five percent of the revenue from the increase is dedicated to the Hawaii Tobacco Prevention and Control Trust Fund, which funds state tobacco prevention programs. Click here for more information.

Iowa:
 
Iowa governor calls for tobacco tax increase
Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack is renewing his call for an increase in the state tobacco tax to prevent Iowans from becoming addicted to cigarettes. In late March, 150 high school students from across the state lobbied (Click here) at the Statehouse for the increase. The Iowa AARP has also become involved (Click here), urging Iowans to call the current House speaker Christopher Rants to get the increase on to the floor for debate. Click here for additional information and here.

Illinois:
 
Chicago now has highest cigarette tax in nation
Cook County commissioners recently approved a doubling of county cigarette tax to $2. This means that a pack of cigarettes now costs more than $7 in Chicago, resulting in a lot of residents crossing state lines to purchase cigarettes. Click here for more information.

Kentucky:
 
Kentucky increases tax on cigarette papers
Governor Fletcher has increased Kentucky’s tax on cigarette rolling papers by 25 cents per package. The rolling-paper tax is estimated to raise $750,000 in revenue per year, assuming sales of 3 million packages annually in Kentucky. Click here for more information.

Michigan:
 
Michigan cigarette tax bust
The state of Michigan is collecting $5.9 million from about 9,000 people who tried to avoid the state’s $2-a-pack cigarette tax by shopping on the Internet. Legal cigarette sales dropped after the state’s tax on cigarette packs roe to $2 in 2004. Click here for more information.

Minnesota:
 
Legislators want to replace Minnesota health impact fee with equivalent tax
While awaiting a Supreme Court decision on the state’s 75 cent per pack health impact fee, the Minnesota Legislature is considering instating a 75 cent tax to replace it. The fee was struck down in December, and the Supreme Court is currently considering whether this decision should stand. Click here for more information. Click here for a press release from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota on a statewide advertising campaign launched to emphasize the health benefits of the 75-cent tobacco price increase.

Mississippi:
 
Mississippi Senate fails to override governor’s veto on cigarette tax
The Mississippi Senate attempted twice to override Governor Haley Barbour’s veto of a tax increase. One bill would have increased the cigarette tax to $0.80 per pack on July 1 of this year and to $1.00 on July 1 of next year, and cut the current 7 percent grocery tax in half. Another bill would have eliminated the grocery tax entirely. Governor Barbour has stated that he vetoed the tax increase because the resultant decrease in the number of smokers would have resulted in a loss of revenue. Lt. Governor Amy Tuck suggested the issue will return during next year’s legislative session. Click here for more information.

Missouri:
 
Proposed amendment to increase Missouri tobacco taxes
A proposed amendment in Missouri would impose a tax of 4 cents per cigarette and 20% on other tobacco products in the state of Missouri. The tax revenue would be used to fund smoking prevention and cessation programs and increase health care access and treatments. As of March 31st, the petition needed 150,000 more signatures by May 9th to ensure the proposal is included on the November ballot. Click here for additional information.

Montana:
 
New tax increase in Montana pushes smokers to the Internet
Montana’s recently increase cigarette tax, from 18 cents per pack to $1.70 per pack, has prompted smokers to buy their cigarettes on the Internet in an attempt to avoid the additional cost. State officials have begun to crack down on such illegal purchases, having already mailed bill to 89 Internet purchasers. Click here for more information.

New Jersey:
 
New Jersey smokers remit taxes not paid through Internet purchasing
New Jersey authorities are requiring smokers to remit the taxes from online purchases of cigarettes. New Jersey’s cigarette tax on a pack of cigarettes is $2.40 a pack, among the highest in the nation. The names and purchase information of smokers are being relinquished by the Web-based purveyors, after an investigation by the state Division of Taxation. Click here for more information.
 
New Jersey Governor proposes tax increase
Governor Corzine has proposed an increase in the cigarette tax of 35 cents, which would make the tax per pack $2.75, the highest in the nation. If passed, this would be the fourth cigarette tax increase in New Jersey in six years. Click here for more information.

New York:
 
Proposed tax increase in New York eliminated from budget but funding for anti-smoking campaigns and nicotine patches doubled
The New York Legislature's new budget eliminates Gov. George Pataki's proposed $1 per pack increase in the state cigarette tax, but doubles to $85 million funding for anti-smoking campaigns and nicotine patches for those seeking to quit. According to the Director of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York, the education and outreach elements should help 900,000 smokers quit and 100,000 fewer youths start smoking. Click here for more information. (free registration required)

Ohio:
 
Correction from January/February 2006 issue
We apologize for an error in the January/February issue of the Tobacco Free Press stating that Ohio’s cigarette tax had been increased to 70 cents per pack – it has been increased by 70 cents. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused.

South Carolina:
 
Proposal to raise cigarette tax in SC defeated
Plans to raise South Carolina’s cigarette tax to help pay for health programs, tax cuts and small business medical insurance died in the House Ways and Means Committee. One bill would have raised South Carolina's nation-lowest 7-cent per pack cigarette tax to 37 cents in the first year, generating nearly $100 million for a new health and prevention fund. That bill also called for the tax rise to 42 cents a pack within two years. The other bill would have raised the cigarette tax to 39 cents a pack and given the money to Medicaid programs. Click here for more information.

Tennessee:
 
Tax increase proposed in Tennessee
On March 21st, Senator Rosalind Kurita introduced a proposal to raise Tennessee’s cigarette tax by $0.71 per pack. The revenue would be used to expand access to health care, provide funding for tobacco prevention programs and cut the state grocery tax. Tennessee’s current cigarette tax is $0.20 per pack. Click here for more information.

Texas:
 
Texas cigarette tax increase shelved
A tax-swap plan proposed by Texas Governor Rick Perry would have resulted in a $1 increase in the state cigarette tax, bringing the total to $1.41 per pack. The Governor proposed the increase to make up for property tax cuts and to encourage Texans to quit. House lawmakers agreed with the tax but wanted to have a phase-in period instead of an immediate increase, and thus rejected the proposal. The phase-in was first suggested by the tobacco industry, to keep cigarette sales from declining. Lawmakers plan to re-introduce that cigarette tax hike plan with a phase-in period. Click here for more information.

Vermont:
 
Vermont House committee recommends cigarette tax increase
The Vermont House Ways and Means committee voted along party lines to recommend a cigarette tax increase and use settlement funding to pay for a package of health reforms. The committee endorsed a 60-cent increase in the tax on cigarettes, which would raise the total state tax to $1.79 per pack. Click here for more information.

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