West Virginia to Boost Cigarette Taxes by $1
Leaders of two big state Senate committees, together with Senate President Jeff Kessler, are supporting a bill that would increase state cigarette taxes by 1$ starting this July. The law, released during Monday’s floor session, would boost per-pack taxes from 55 cents to $1.55. It also would raise taxes on other smoking products from 7% of the wholesale price to 50 % of the wholesale price.
Senate Health and Human Resources Chairman Ron Stollings, D-Boone, is the main leader of the bill. He explained the action would produce more than $120 million in extra profits for the state. And whilst tax boosts are generally controversial, Kessler stated Governor Earl Ray Tomblin’s “no new taxes” promise in the course of his State of the State discussion in February could make moving this bill even more challenging.
Two years ago, representatives put aside the McCabe-backed bill to boost cigarette taxes in order to compensate the state’s $8 billion “some other post employment advantages,” or OPEB, debt. Prezioso released a bill in last year’s session to boost the per-package tax by $1. Delegate Don Perdue, D-Wayne, is more optimistic. He stated a restricted budget year, together with decreasing tax profits, is producing a raise to cigarette taxes look much better and better to senators and delegates as well.
State budget authorities are currently forecasting a $60-70 million deficiency before the end of the fiscal year in June. Perdue explained Tomblin already has asked for state agencies reduce their budgets by 7.5 %. With not much else to reduce, he added the state will have to look for out completely new profits. He explained no one wishes to increase taxes, but boosting cigarette taxes would basically conserve the state money with time by decreasing health care costs. If this year’s bill gets through the legislative procedure, Kessler and Stollings stated it would be a major assist to the state’s health services budget. In accordance with the bill, 75 % of income developed by the enhanced cigarette tax would be redirected to the state’s Medicaid fund.
Scientific studies demonstrate a raise in cigarette taxes would help the state in other ways, too. Elevating cigarette taxes by at least a dollar would cause a 15 % drop in youth cigarette use. A research released a year ago in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine discovered that a $1 boost on cigarette taxes raised the “quit rate” among cigarette users in the last three months of pregnancy. Around 29 % of West Virginia women smoke during the last three months of their pregnancies, according to findings.
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