Tobacco industry mobilizes to fight proposed tax hike
AUGUSTA, Maine --As the Legislature prepares to debate Gov. John Baldacci's proposed $1-a-pack hike in Maine's cigarette tax, the tobacco industry is mobilizing to fight the increase that would give Maine the highest state cigarette tax in the nation.
Baldacci is seeking to raise the tax, currently $2 per pack, to $3. The increase, which would generate an estimated $66 million per year in additional revenue, is part of Baldacci's proposed $6.5 billion budget.
Leaders for the Democrats, who have majorities in both the House and Senate, have said there doesn't appear to be enough support in either chamber for the full $1 increase. Republicans opposed the increase and say the key is to control spending.
Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds say excessive taxes can have the effect of sending smokers to states with lower taxes or to the Internet, where taxes may be illegally evaded.
They also say the taxes are unfair to smokers, who are already heavily taxed, and that the taxes hit the poorest the hardest. R.J. Reynolds says the median household income for smokers in Maine is $29,493, compared to $44,195 for nonsmokers.
A supporter of the tax increase, Assistant House Majority Leader Sean Faircloth, said the proposal comes as tobacco carries a greater stigma and the industry is less influential in the State House.
"To be blunt (the tobacco industry) had more strength back then. "I think the societal viewpoint has evolved," said Faircloth, D-Bangor.
Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention, sees the increase as a "one of the most effective public health strategies a state can implement" because it would give people more reason to quit smoking.
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Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
