Tweet The cost of cutting cigarette taxes by a dime, as the House of Representative would like, will undoubtedly cost New Hampshire much more than the loss of $9 million in revenue. Encouraging smoking by reducing the cost will pose a significant and long-term health-care cost to the state, especially as it relates to pregnant women and children. Consider that the first-year medical costs alone of a premature birth are about 10 times greater ($32 ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Raleigh, NC — Two North Carolina lawmakers have filed a bill that, if passed, would increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1. Rep. Jennifer Weiss (D-Wake) and Sen. William Purcell (D-Scotland) said the tax could generate about $300 million in new revenue for North Carolina, which is the nation’s top tobacco-producing state. But Purcell told WFMY News 2 money isn’t his main goal. He wants to prevent teens from smokin ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet CHARLESTON – Bills being introduced in the West Virginia Legislature would put a $1 tax hike on a pack of cigarettes. However, some local legislators are doubtful the bills will make it to a full vote. Senate Bill 362 and House Bill 2973 would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 55 cents to $1.55 and would raise the tax on smokeless tobacco from seven to 50 percent of the wholesale price of each item. The tax is expected to bri ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet BLUEFIELD — Legislation pending in the House and Senate would increase West Virginia’s excise tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack, creating a new revenue source for the Mountain State but also causing potential problems for retailers living in border communities such as Bluefield. “I just think, and again I relate it as such to the gasoline tax, I think it would just encourage folks who are going to use those products to purchase them ce ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet A controversial bill that would essentially snuff out North Dakota’s tobacco control and prevention efforts to fund the expansion of UND’s School of Medicine and Health Sciences goes before its first committee hearing today. Not only would HB 1353 take tobacco settlement funds set aside by voters in 2008 for an anti-tobacco program, it would also eliminate the entire section of state law that allows for an agency to manage those funds. ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet SPRINGFIELD — A report said the state would gain $377 million in revenue by raising the cigarette tax $1 per pack. The Illinois Senate passed a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase in April 2009, but since then the House has not taken up the legislation. In light of the report by economist Frank Chaloupka at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Senate President John Cullerton said in a statement that “a cigarette tax is one of ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Where there’s smoke there’s profit in Westfall and Matamoras. In a two-mile strip of Route 6/209, from Westfall to the Port Jervis bridge, there are eight — count ‘em, eight — tobacco shops, with two more on the way. New Yorkers looking to escape that state’s $4.35-a-pack cigarette tax cross the Delaware River for Pennsylvania’s per-pack cigarette tax of $1.60. “There’s lots of call for it. This ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet Parliament has enacted a 245 percent increase in Kazakhstan’s minimal cigarette excise tax to try to get more smokers to kick the habit. The tax will jump 25 percent a year between 2011 and 2014 – from 20 percent a pack now to 49 percent in four years. The tax increase and other steps have led to Kazakhstan become the leader in anti-smoking efforts among former Soviet countries. Last year parliament took the bold step of banning smoking ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet A federal judge in Buffalo has extended a temporary order blocking tax collections on cigarettes sold by two New York Indian nations. Lawyers for the St. Regis Mohawk tribe of northern New York and the Unkechaugs of Long Island argued Tuesday against the state’s plans to apply its $4.35-per-pack sales tax on cigarettes sold by tribal retailers to non-Indian customers. Judge Richard Arcara extended until Nov. 12 a temporary order bloc ... Jump to full article >>

Tweet The S.C. House approved a 50-cent increase to the state’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax Wednesday. But lawmakers are uncertain if they have enough votes to overturn an expected veto by Gov. Mark Sanford. The version approved by the House keeps the basics of a previously approved Senate cigarette tax hike: The 50-cents-a-pack tax would bring in an estimated $136.1 million a year. The money would go to help pay for Medicaid, the s ... Jump to full article >>