Yes they did.......but my understanding is that they have slowly been increasing them since. The big problem at the get go was because they raised them so high in one shot.
Sof like what NYC and NYS did - in one shot they raised the state and city tax to $3 per pack, in addition to the federal tax, plus the MSA payment.............and then they add insult to injury by then taxing all the taxes at something like an additional 8%.........and Pataki and Bloomberg wonder why so many NYers are seeking other sources for their cigarettes?
Here is what is going on in Montana today. (sigh)
Bill would enforce tobacco tax
Posted Feb 21, 2005 - 09:53 AM
Associated Press
HELENA - The House gave preliminary approval Saturday to a measure intended to enforce the tobacco tax increase that Montana voters enacted in November.
If lawmakers don't strengthen current tobacco law, legitimate businesses could lose profits to those who try to avoid paying the tax, said bill sponsor Rep. Scott Mendenhall, R-Clancy. Last fall voters passed Initiative 149, increasing cigarette taxes in the state by $1 per pack beginning Jan. 1 this year. The initiative also increased the tax on chewing tobacco from 35 cents to 85 cents an ounce and taxes on other tobacco products from 25 percent to 50 percent of the wholesale price.
Mendenhall's measure would require carriers of tobacco products to report shipments to the Department of Revenue. It would also require those who sell tobacco products to keep records that the Department of Justice could review. The measure also calls for reporting sales before delivering, mailing or shipping tobacco products into Montana and labeling tobacco products shipped into the state.
The bill calls for a variety of penalties, from fines to jail time to forfeiture of the vehicle used to carry illegal tobacco products, depending on the scale of the violation and whether a person has prior convictions.
Opponents said Mendenhall's measure is simply too strict.
"This sounds an awful lot like Prohibition," said Rep. Bill Jones, R-Bigfork.
Some lawmakers worried that ordinary citizens might face severe consequences when returning with tobacco from out-of-state travels.
Mendenhall said exceptions allowing people to bring up to a carton of cigarettes or 10 ounces of tobacco provide leeway for the average tobacco user. He told The Associated Press he expects amendments to soften the penalties in the measure and to increase the amount of tobacco individuals can bring into Montana.
The House approved the measure on a 54-45 vote. A final vote is expected Monday.
For two full weeks, we lived in a land which had no smoking rules or regulations, and it was a paradise!
I must plead guilty your honor...
Often, I would go out of my way to blow my cigarette smoke into the face of Americans. Absolute revenge, and there was nothing they could do about it.
If any American dared to get upset about cigarette smoke, they obtained a DOUBLE DOSE of my second-hand smoke right in their face.
The Mexicans just laughed and understood exactly why I did what I was doing.