Tobacco Tax Hike Has State Smokers Lit Up

On a slow news day, Michael Keck, the government relations director for the nonprofit, nonpartisan affiliate of the American Cancer Society, sure lit a fire under members of the Legislative Tax Reform and Relief Legislative Task Force.

The proposal, Keck presented, was not a slow burn, but an out-and-out flame-thrower of an idea.

Why not, he opined, raise the tax on all tobacco products sold in the Natural State to cover all the health related costs attributed to tobacco use — especially health incidences related to smoking.

Well, that suggestion, fired up the room of the otherwise, dour, drab and boring session on trying to find ways to reduce the state’s tax burden on its people.

And the question: When presented needs to be asked; Why not?

In the full-disclosure, I have never smoked, chewed, dipped, vaped or been attracted to cigarettes, pipe tobacco, cigars, cigarillos, snuff or chew (often called chaw in Arkansas), on a consistent basis.

But many, many Arkansans are.

And many more Arkansans simply do not need to start the tobacco habit.

More Arkansans I know need to stop, if they could stop. Their health depends upon it.

So the question, Keck offered is a good one.

Why not raise the state taxes on tobacco products — let’s say cigarettes — $1.50 a pack more than what they currently are?

Cigarettes in Arkansas are taxed $1.15 per pack of 20 cigarettes. That raises $165.2 million in general revenue and an additional $5.3 million in special taxes each year.

That is about one-half of the $300 million the state spends on health care for smoking related illnesses in our state.

Adding another $1.50 to that $1.15 tax per pack would be a state tax of $2.65 on a pack of cigarettes and other tobacco products — would narrow that immense funding gap.

I know some people would have to quit as the “habit” would be out of financial reach for many if there was a $2.65 tax on tobacco products.

Keck did not just grab the $1.50 per pack price increase out of thin air. He estimated that tax would raise an additional $121 million to help offset the costs of Arkansas’ health programs, be it in-state or with the aid of federal Medicaid dollars, and offset the costs of the effects of smoking.

That list of the effects is not pretty; it includes a litany of conditions and diseases starting with incidences of cancer, heart disease, stroke and respiratory diseases and other medical maladies.

Arkansas has the third-highest adult smoking rate in the nation.

Let me repeat that. Arkansas which has a little over three million people – has the third-highest adult smoking rate of all states in the nation.

Our youths, 17-21, are smoking at a rate of 23.6 in every 100 youths, which is nearly twice the national average of 7.6 youths who smoke out of every 100.

The Arkansas Medicaid program spends $300 million a year on tobacco related illnesses. Keck says implementation of this tax increase could deter young people, help adults stop smoking and have a potential long-term health care cost savings of $1.03 billion.

But here in is the rub of why this will be stubbed out like a filtered cigarette.

The state of Missouri’s tax on tobacco is 17 cents.

Tennessee’s tax on smokes is 62 cents; followed by Mississippi’s tax at 68 cents.

Louisiana has a tax of $1.08 per pack of smokes. Oklahoma, is now, at $1.03, but is raising its tobacco tax to $2.03 in July.

Texas is the only state, currently, with a tobacco tax higher than Arkansas. Texans pay $1.41 per pack in taxes.

And there is no special tax on vaping or vapor products, like those currently on tobacco products laced with nicotine, the central chemical in some vaping products. Confused?

So was the committee. State Sen. Jim Hendren, said it has bugged him for a long time that the state spends more money on tobacco related-illnesses than the state collects from tobacco-related taxes.

What about you?