Plan To Raise Idaho’s Cigarette Tax Fails

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Idaho's current cigarette tax is 57 cents per pack.

Idaho lawmakers won’t take up a plan to raise the state’s cigarette tax.  The House Revenue and Taxation Committee killed a bill that would have done just that by a 11 to 5 vote.

The plan, supported by the American Cancer Society and about 25 other groups, would have raised Idaho’s cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack.  The state currently charges a 57 cent tax on a pack of cigarettes, which is one of the lowest tax rates in the country.

Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett (R-Challis) told the committee the bill was “the most blatant case of social engineering”  she’d ever seen.  “This proposed tax increase is aimed at a specific group of citizens, which is simply a clever way to pick winners and losers,” Barrett said.  “Tobacco is a legal product and the industry should be treated as all other legitimate industries.”

Idaho Legislature

Rep. Lenore Hardy Barrett (R-Challis)

The American Cancer Society argues if the state raises the tax on tobacco, it will encourage smokers to quit.  The Society, along with supporters of the bill, say tobacco use costs Idaho $319 million a year in health care related costs, $83 million of that is in Medicaid.

Rep. Ken Roberts (R-Donnelly) says this bill isn’t about increasing taxes and making government bigger, it’s about who pays the bill for entitlement programs.  “If we’re going to have these kind of cessation programs and we’re going to take care of people that get lung cancer on the Medicaid rolls in the state of Idaho, then maybe those people who participate in that habit of smoking, maybe they ought to pay part of the bill,” says Roberts.

Idaho Legislature

Rep. Ken Roberts (R-Donnelly)

According to a database at the Secretary of State’s website, the American Cancer Society spent $15,516 on lobbying efforts during the 2011 session.  Altria Client Services Inc., which is the parent company of tobacco-giant Philip Morris spent $110,467 to lobby lawmakers in 2011.

For the month of January, Altria reports its spent more than $68,000 on lobbying. The American Cancer Society’s lobbyist Heidi Low spent $122 in January.

Would you support an increased cigarette tax?