Posted on 06/15/2005 11:23:51 AM PDT by Fido969
Bill would raise tax on cigarettes
By SUSAN M. COVER,
Copyright © 2005 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc. E-mail this story to a friend
AUGUSTA — Cigarette taxes would increase by $1 per pack under a budget-balancing plan supported by Democrats in the Legislature. The Legislature's Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee voted 8-5 Tuesday along party lines to replace $250 million in borrowing with $125 million in budget cuts and $125 million in new revenue.
The revenue would be raised mostly through an increase in tobacco taxes and an increase in corporate income taxes.
The budget bill approved by the committee will come up for House and Senate votes later this week. Like the committee vote, full legislative approval is likely to happen along party lines, according to members of the Appropriations Committee.
Both parties claimed victory after Tuesday's committee vote. Democrats said they cut as much as possible before raising taxes. Republicans said they played a key role in removing an ill-conceived borrowing plan from the budget.
And for the first time, Gov. John Baldacci said he would support an increase in the cigarette tax.
The borrowing plan - which will now be repealed and replaced - was part of the state's $5.8 billion, two-year budget passed in March. The proposal to borrow money that would have to be paid back over several years sparked a campaign, led by Sen. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, to ask voters to repeal that part of the budget.
Although he collected 99 signatures for the so-called people's veto Tuesday morning, Mills said he will abandon the campaign if the budget fix endorsed Tuesday is passed by the full Legislature.
"As soon as the ink is dry, we will declare victory and say stop," he said, noting that the campaign has gathered more than 40,000 signatures.
While Republicans say that the threat of a people's veto forced Democrats to renegotiate the budget, Democrats point to possible military base reductions as the reason not to borrow the money.
As for the proposed budget cuts, Rep. Arthur Lerman, D-Augusta, said they run through nearly all state departments. "It's very difficult to cut state government without affecting programs people in the state want to have," he said. "It's not as if we found a lot of fat in the budget."
The would bill take $5 million out of the state's tobacco fund to help balance the budget, and reduce the benefit that businesses get from an equipment tax reimbursement program by 10 percent in 2007.
In addition to raising the cigarette tax from $1 to $2 per pack, the state would increase taxes on cigars, chewing tobacco and smokeless tobacco.
Baldacci's spokesman Lynn Kippax said the governor believes that, in light of possible military base closings and their anticipated impact on the economy, it's appropriate to consider some tax increases.
Kippax said the governor continues to oppose broad-based tax hikes.
"The cigarette tax is a horse of a different color," Kippax said. "It does more than just raise revenue. It helps keep people from taking up smoking, which can become a lifetime addiction."
Republicans responded that a tax increase is a tax increase. They don't believe that the Legislature needed to resort to raising taxes, and plan to offer their own package of cuts as an amendment to the Democratic-supported budget.
"It doesn't matter what type of tax it is, it's money that we believe should be left in the economy," said Rep. Robert Nutting, R-Oakland.
Rebecca Wyke, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, told the committee that the increase in the corporate income tax would bring in about $9 million over two years.
Rep. Ben Dudley, D-Portland, said Democrats considered additional cuts to the budget. But they wanted to spare social service programs such as health care, food stamps and money for AIDS patients.
"I'm comfortable with the place we've come to," he said.
ping
Your tobacco habit is terrible, but sodomy is A-OK, even if the cost-per is kind of high.
It's a poor tax. Tobacco and alcohol are good vectors for taxing the poor.
Lately Maine was rated the state with the heaviest tax burden.
Even at the latitude of Maine, tobacco grows.
It's not illegal to grow it, and they've got plenty of land. Won't take long for them to figure it out. A patch in the back yard, and some rolling papers, and you're all set.
Why not $10 per pack, aye-yuh?
If I were a smoker, I would quit merely for the pleasure of "stealing" from the government.*
*According to Dimocrats, any type of tax cut "costs" government, therefore minimizing your tax liability must be "stealing" from the government.
I was shaking I was so mad.
I posted the same thing from the Bangor Daily News at 9:39 this morning:
However:
Can't stand the high taxes?
Afraid to order off of the Internet?
Then start rolling your own!!!
I roll out a beautiful carton for a little under $8 dollars. Premiums in my state are now up to $45-$50 a carton. Can you imagine the money I have saved over the past 4 years since I now roll my own? It's mind boggling.
under $50.00
$5.75 a bag
$1.99 for 200 filtered tubes
and
So there is no tax on tobacco, just the pre rolled ones?
Taking advantage of one group of people. This pis*es me off. I'm a "party puffer" (I smoke when I drink), and even I don't believe in this tax.
My husband has been smoking since he was 14. He has a horrible addiction. The government is taxing his addiction.
The government shoudl find something else to tax, - like alcohol, steaks, Malono Blahnik shoes, McDonald's hamburgers - and spread the tax around a little.
Okay, the tax goes way up, they earmark it for something, people quit smoking, the revenue goes down. I am betting they will at that point find some overall new tax to make up the shortfall....permenently
The Dims say they support the working class, yet they are most affected by this. Kind of like their other tax on the middle class, the lottery.
I calculated it in the other thread....$5.7B/1.3M residents and the total per person spending was approx. $4,470. They would be better off sending all their residents checks for $4,000......
Oh, get serious - Do you think that Hillary, Baldassi, McAlliffe, Edwards and Kerry give a damn about the "working class"?
Get a load of this...
Our Governor in MN (a republican) is on the verge of gaveling a state bill that will increase the cigarette tax $.75 to $1.00.
When he was elected he vowed to veto ANY new tax bills that would increase the taxes.
Well, since he did that he is calling this new tax a users fee and claiming he is still maintaining his no new taxes pledge.
He says that it is to offset the medical costs of the state because of people who smoke.
The Minneapolis star and sickle had an article on it this week and showed where over $20 million was slated for the general education state fund!!!!
If this goes through, although he has been a very effective Governor in controlling the state budget, he will not get my vote at reelection.
Really?
Boy, I would like to see that happen for the first time...../sarcasm big time/
After all, from a Dimocrats point of view, it's ALL the Governments money.
They just let us use it as a token for trade to show appreciation for working hard so we can keep government growing... ; )
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