Up in smoke
A bill to raise the tax on cigarettes — and save the lives of 27,000 citizens* — was stubbed out in a Senate committee.Sen. Allen Christensen had proposed jacking up the cigarette tax to $2 per pack, but lowered his sights to the national average of $1.30. Gov. Jon Huntsman had supported the tax boost as a way to underwrite removing all sales tax on groceries. Amazingly, it all left the opposition, which was mostly non-smoking LDS lawmakers, unmoved. Christensen futilely argued:
Tobacco kills people. It costs this state billions of dollars in the process of killing these people. Tobacco companies, excuse me, but just don't give a damn about this state, its citizens, its finances or its children.
I guess that goes for a majority of the Utah Senate, too. Senators said they killed the bill because it would send Utah smokers across the state line for gaspers — depriving local retailers of the trade. Howard Stephenson, a lobbyist for business and seasonal senator, affected a concern for the poor:
This seems to be a very regressive tax, because people of the lowest income seem to be the ones who are hooked on it.*Utah chapter of the American Cancer Society says the tax increase would motivate an estimated 27,000 people to quit, deter children from starting, and save millions on healthcare.
3 Comments:
It's Utah. What's more to say?
God, this legislature is upscrewed.
The poorest in Utah are hooked! Smokers should just roll up their windows when they drive! And Utah should put a but-return on butts...that would take care of the litter! Lets make that a law!
Utah Republicans in the Legislature hate taxes and science more than they hate death and disease. They're ideological zealots who have pushed their faith to an extreme.
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