New bill would raise cigarette tax $1

Another year has brought another legislative discussion on hiking cigarette taxes to Raleigh, but support in the General Assembly may have eroded with 2010’s Republican takeover.

Laurinburg’s N.C. Sen. Bill Purcell and N.C. Rep. Jennifer Weiss, a Wake County Democrat, introduced identical bills in both houses in Raleigh Tuesday to raise the state tax on a pack of cigarettes by $1. The current state rate is $.45, which ranks as the seventh lowest in the nation, and this would bring the state tax to the national median, as well as raising $300 million for the state annually.

Bill’s Benefits

After a morning press conference in Raleigh, Purcell, a retired pediatrician, explained his support for the tax hike is primarily based on the public health issue smoking poses, especially among youth. Even he, though, expressed doubts over whether it will clear both hurdles of the General Assembly, where Republican majorities have promised to fight tax increases.

Purcell has previously introduced bills moving to hike state taxes on cigarettes, including in [2009].

“From my standpoint, it’s a health issue, and that’s why I’m pushing this,” Purcell said Tuesday. “The Republicans have said ‘No,’ (in preliminary talks about the tax increase), but a recent poll shows over 60 percent of Republicans in the state support raising the tax, and so do over 70 percent of Democrats. The other thing is that it will bring in about $300 million for the state budget.”

At the morning press conference, Purcell appeared alongside Weiss and representatives of the American Heart Association, the American Cancer Society and a former state health director, among others, where research was presented that each time the tax is raised on cigarettes drives down teen smoking.

The American Lung Association also gave North Carolina an ‘F’ for tobacco control in January, specifically citing the low state tax on tobacco products.

“We increased it a couple of years ago by 10 cents, but a significant increase like this would be even more helpful in stopping kids from starting to smoke,” Purcell said, also citing the cost to treat patients on Medicaid and Medicare with respiratory conditions caused or exacerbated by smoking.

Read more: Richmond County Daily Journal - New bill would raise cigarette tax 1