Tobacco News and Interesting Information

Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. endorsed a $2.30 tax increase on a pack of cigarettes this morning, giving Utah the highest state cigarette tax in the country with a goal of wiping out the remaining state sales tax on food.

"I think that's a perfectly fair tradeoff," the governor said after publicly embracing the tax hike for the first time and going further than previous legislative proposals. Huntsman's target would more than quadruple the existing 70-cent tax on a pack of smokes.

Legislative leaders were open to the idea, and said it will be among the topics discussed in the upcoming legislative session.

House Speaker Dave Clark, R-Santa Clara, said he would be supportive of the tobacco tax increase as long as there was an equal tax cut.

"I think you could quickly move [to raise] the tobacco tax to remove the sales tax on food," said Clark, speaking before a United Way-sponsored discussion of legislative priorities.

Senate President Mike Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, said the governor's proposal will need to be batted around.

"I've always been an advocate for removing the state tax on food, but as I listen to my caucus, I'm not sure they are," he said. "A lot of the body has absolutely campaigned on the promise of not raising taxes. … It's an alternative that needs to be discussed."

Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, is already having a bill crafted that would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes to $2. Huntsman's proposal would raise it to $3. A pack of cigarettes now costs between $3.50 and $5 a pack.

As of last August, New York had the highest state cigarette tax in the nation at $2.75, according to figures compiled by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. However, many cities across the country impose their own cigarette tax, making the cost of a pack much higher. The national average was $1.18.

Michael Siler, director of governmental affairs for the Utah Chapter of the American Cancer Society, said he has known for a while the governor supported raising the tobacco tax, but didn't know how high he would set the target.

"As far as we're concerned, it's a good thing," he said, saying it would encourage smokers to kick the habit and could help cover the smoking related costs.

Cigarette tax supporters have said that every 10 percent increase in the cost of a pack of cigarettes, smoking rates would fall by 6.5 percent among youth and 2 percent among adults.

The Utah Legislature and the governor reduced the state portion of the sales tax on food from 4.75 percent to 2.75 percent effective January 2007 and then down to 1.75 percent as of January 2008.

Huntsman said that the $3 per pack tax would bring in $120 million to $150 million in revenue, beyond the $60 million the current tax generates. Huntsman said that would be "more than enough" to eliminate the sales tax on food. That would cost about $75 million.

"It would more than cover that remaining portion of the sales tax on food and I think it would show a great commitment to the people of the state if we would think creatively about how to get something like that done," Huntsman said.

Under Christensen's proposal, which the American Cancer Society and a network of other anti-smoking and public health advocates had supported, most of the money would have gone to cover health costs and toward smoking cessation programs.

Siler said they would still like money to go to those purposes, but the group recognizes that in these tough budget times it might not happen. He said his organization will still make the case to legislators this year and in future years that it would be a worthwhile purpose for the new revenue.

Huntsman said that, under his proposal, there would be plenty of money left for cessation and health programs.