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AP: Higher cigarette taxes could save babies' lives, study finds

CHICAGO — When it costs more to smoke, fewer babies die, according to a new study that links rising cigarette taxes with declines in infant mortality, especially among blacks.
With nearly 4 million annual births nationwide, the results suggest that a $1 increase in cigarette taxes would be expected to lead to 750 fewer infant deaths each year, the researchers said.
Smoking during pregnancy can lead to complications including sometimes dangerous premature births and sudden infant death syndrome. U.S. smoking rates declined during years examined in the study – 1999 to 2010. The research, paid for by the National Institutes of Health, was published online Tuesday in the journal Pediatrics.
The study
Cigarettes are subject to state and federal excise taxes. Dr. Stephen Patrick of Vanderbilt University and colleagues examined data on changes in those taxes and cigarette prices from every state over 11 years. They also analyzed federal data on infant mortality in each state.
Taxes per cigarette pack increased from 84 cents to $2.37 on average, adjusted for inflation. Infant mortality per 1,000 births decreased from about 7 deaths to 6 deaths on average. Among blacks, deaths declined from about 14 to 11 per 1,000 births.
The researchers considered factors other than smoking that influence infant mortality, including family income and education, but still found a link with rising taxes.
The context
Almost 11 percent of U.S. women smoke during pregnancy, federal data show. Previous studies have linked higher cigarette taxes with declines in smoking during pregnancy and with better newborn health. The researchers say their work is the first examining these taxes and U.S. infant mortality rates.
Raising tobacco taxes is among strategies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention supports to reduce smoking. A U.S. Surgeon General report last year said reducing smoking among pregnant women and women of reproductive age “remains a critical component of public health efforts to improve maternal and child health.”
The researchers say the taxes could have negative consequences for pregnant smokers who don’t quit and can’t afford to buy necessities because of high cigarette prices – a possibility the study didn’t examine. The study lacked information on all variables that could affect infant mortality. Still, they say their study adds to evidence for policymakers to consider in seeking ways to reduce infant deaths.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/higher-cigarette-taxes-save-babies-lives-study-finds/

States Most Impacted by Tobacco Do Least to Reduce Smoking’s Toll

From Parnership for Drug-Free Kids
States most impacted by tobacco use often do the least to reduce the toll of smoking, according to an analysis by USA Today. Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia and Mississippi are doing the worst job in terms of tobacco control, the newspaper found.
USA Today found big tobacco-growing states, including Kentucky, Georgia and Tennessee, have the poorest and sickest residents, but spend less than one-fifth of the federal government’s recommended minimum for tobacco education and enforcement.
States hardest hit by tobacco use are the least likely to restrict smoking in restaurants and workplaces, the analysis found. These states impose penalties of $100 or less on businesses that sell tobacco to children, compared with $10,000 in states with the most aggressive enforcement.
Tobacco taxes in states with the most smokers are 60 cents or less, compared with $4.35 in New York and $3.75 in Rhode Island, the newspaper found.
USA Today created two scores for states. States’ “impact score” combined youth and adult smoking rates with public perception about the risks of smoking. States’ “aggressiveness score” combined cigarette taxes, smoking bans, how state spending compares with federal recommendations, ad restrictions, and penalties on cigarette sales to young people.
The states that scored high on aggressiveness and low on tobacco impact included Hawaii, New York and Utah. States scoring low on aggressiveness and high on tobacco impact included Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, West Virginia and Mississippi.
According to Brian King, a Deputy Director in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office of Smoking and Health, the most effective ways to reduce smoking are to regulate it, increase cigarette taxes, run powerful anti-tobacco campaigns and adequately fund tobacco control efforts. He notes that government anti-smoking efforts are “outgunned” by the tobacco industry, which spends about $1 million an hour advertising tobacco.
http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/states-impacted-tobacco-least-reduce-smokings-toll/

LA Times: $2 more for cigarettes? California tobacco tax proposal revived in special session

A proposal to raise the tobacco tax by $2 per pack of cigarettes in California was given new life Wednesday when legislation was announced as part of a special session on healthcare.
Supporters say the new bill has a better chance of passing than one that stalled in the regular session because the $1.5 billion raised by such a tax could help the state pay for healthcare costs for low-income residents, a key goal of the special session.
Sen. Richard Pan (D-Sacramento) said he will introduce the tobacco tax, noting that California’s current 87-cent-per-pack tobacco tax makes the state 33rd in the nation, far below New York, which charges a tax of $4.35 a pack. There is also a $1.01 federal tax on cigarettes.
A rally for the proposal was held Wednesday next to the Capitol by the Save Lives California coalition, made up of groups including the California Medical Assn., the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Assn. and the Service Employees International Union.
The coalition said that if the Legislature fails to muster the two-thirds vote to pass the tax, it will put the tax proposal on the 2016 ballot.
“We know raising the tobacco tax has been proven to prevent and reduce smoking, especially among young people,” Pan told the nearly 100 people at the rally. He said 40,000 people die each year in California from tobacco-related diseases, and treating such illnesses costs taxpayers $18.1 billion annually.
A Field Poll released Wednesday indicates a $2 tobacco tax to pay for healthcare costs is supported by 67% of Californians.
The tax is one of several anti-tobacco bills being considered during the special session, including one raising the smoking age to 21 and another restricting the use of electronic cigarettes in public.
“The special session is an opportunity for lawmakers to take long-overdue action to prevent young people from falling prey to the No. 1 cause of preventable death in California: tobacco addiction,” said Claudia Alvarez, an SEIU delegate and family medicine resident at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Those in the audience at the rally included Jennifer Kent, the governor’s appointee as director of the California Department of Health Care Services.
“To the extent we have an ongoing need for revenues we’re obviously willing to consider both this tax and any other revenue sources,” Kent said in an interview afterward. “We’re here and interested and willing and able to partner” with the coalition.
She said there is a strong link between tobacco use and illnesses covered by Medi-Cal.
The regular-session tobacco tax bill was opposed by groups including the Cigar Assn. of America and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Assn., which argued it creates a regressive tax on a declining revenue source.
“At a time when state revenue has recovered and the governor says there is even a surplus, there is no reason for a tax increase,” said Jon Coupal, president of the taxpayers group.
Proponents of the bill estimate 295,000 smokers will kick the habit the first year if the tax goes up $2 per pack, and many others will not start smoking to begin with.
http://www.latimes.com/local/political/la-me-pc-california-tobacco-tax-proposal-revived-for-special-session-20150826-story.html

The Sacremento Bee: California cigarette tax backers commit $2 million

BY JEREMY B. WHITE

Hoping to influence a special health care budget session, a coalition of labor and medical groups has put $2 million into an initiative to raise California’s tobacco tax and use the revenue to fund health care for low-income Californians.

The money flowed from a coalition of groups that include SEIU California State Council – a union umbrella group whose members include thousands of health care workers – the California Medical Association, the California Dental Association, the American Cancer Society and groups promoting heart and lung health.

Their twin ballot initiatives would impose a $2-per-pack tax on cigarettes to fund health programs that include smoking prevention and Medi-Cal, California’s health insurance program for low-income residents.

The money is another move in an ongoing political fight over Medi-Cal reimbursement rates.

A similar coalition of medical and labor groups has pushed to have California increase how much it pays doctors and other providers, saying existing rates are making it hard to obtain health care. Some of the cigarette tax revenue would flow into a new fund that could be used to augment Medi-Cal provider rates.

“We are serious about increasing these rates and improving access and keeping California healthy,” said Laphonza Butler, president of SEIU California.

Proponents have yet to decide which ballot measure they would pursue – one of the two would tax electronic cigarettes – but they will be able to begin collecting signatures soon.

A Senate bill to boost the tax cleared committees but still awaits a floor vote, a dubious proposition given that it would need votes from Republicans unlikely to back a new tax. Outside groups often float ballot initiatives as a way to pressure legislators: pass the bill or we will go directly to voters.

“We strongly support securing a legislative remedy that’s in the best interest of Californians, but we are ready and willing to go to the ballot if necessary,” said Mike Roth, a spokesman for the campaign.

The $2 million announcement coincides with Gov. Jerry Brown convening lawmakers for a special budget session to deal with Medi-Cal’s finances. It is “yet to be determined” if an agreement to raise reimbursement rates would lead the coalition to drop the tobacco tax initiatives, Roth said.

Advocates have lost the tax fight at the ballot before, in 2006 and most recently in 2012, after being vastly outspent by a tobacco industry intent on defeating Proposition 29.

Tobacco companies donated tens of thousands of dollars directly to lawmakers last election cycle. The Legislature is considering a number of tobacco-related bills this year: one would raise the age to purchase tobacco to 21; one would treat e-cigarettes like conventional cigarettes; and another would ban major-league baseball players from chewing tobacco at California ballparks.

http://www.sacbee.com/news/politics-government/capitol-alert/article25118476.html#storylink=cpy

U.S. News: Nevada Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval secures unlikely win with approval of big tax increase

By MICHELLE RINDELS, Associated Press

CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP) — Nevada’s Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, secured an unlikely victory Monday when the conservative state Legislature approved a huge tax increase at his urging as part of a plan to boost education spending.

The $1.1 billion package raises taxes on businesses and cigarettes, and it makes permanent a $500 million bundle of temporary payroll and sales taxes.

Sandoval’s win comes on the last day of the legislative session, and the proposal’s fate had been in doubt until late Sunday when several skeptical Republicans in the state Assembly pledged support.

The plan had faced vocal resistance for months, led by anti-tax conservatives emboldened by election victories in November that increased their majorities in both chambers.

Many critics noted that Nevada voters had overwhelmingly rejected a similar business tax plan and said the lawmakers shouldn’t go against their wishes.

Sen. Don Gustavson said legislators “should be ashamed of themselves to force through the largest tax increase in Nevada’s history that includes the type of tax that voters did not support.”

“And you wonder why our constituents distrust politicians?” he added.

Gustavson and Sens. Pete Goicoechea and James Settelmeyer, all rural Republicans, were the only opposition in the Senate, which passed the tax plan 18-3 Monday.

That vote came after the Assembly passed the plan 30-10 Sunday night after heavy-hitting business groups lined up behind it.

The tax increase will allow Sandoval to pump millions of dollars into programs for poor students and children learning English. The state has lagged behind others for years in education rankings and on school funding, but it has consistently rejected efforts to raise revenue.

Republican Sen. Scott Hammond had been among the skeptics, but he said his concerns about accountability had been eased, in part by the passage of his bill allowing students to use public funds at private schools.

“I can assure you that there have been significant reforms. We have one of the best, if not the best, school choice reform programs now in the nation,” Hammond said. “For that reason, I can support this.”

Elements of the plan include:

— A hike in the business license fee. The fee for corporations would rise from the existing $200 a year to $500, while the fee for the rest of the business entities would remain at $200.

— A hike in the payroll tax. Sandoval’s plan raises the state’s existing modified business tax from 1.17 percent to 1.475 percent of wages beyond the first $200,000 a company pays out each year and sets the rate at 2 percent of those wages for the mining industry and financial institutions. Companies would still get to deduct health care premiums for employees from the calculation.

— A “Commerce Tax” on gross revenue. Industry-specific tax rates will apply to businesses with more than $4 million in Nevada revenue each year. Businesses can count 50 percent of their commerce tax bill as a credit against their modified business tax bill — a provision that’s intended as a perk to those who employ people. The commerce tax aims to capture more money from capital-intensive businesses such as mines and those that do business in Nevada but aren’t based here.

— A flexible payroll tax rate. The plan allows the state to lower the modified business tax rate if revenues from the new commerce tax and MBT rate bring in more revenue than projected.

— An extension of “sunset taxes.” More than $500 million of the plan comes from making a set of expiring payroll and sales taxes permanent.

— Cigarette taxes. The bill raises a tax on cigarette packs by $1, which is expected to generate about $100 million over two years.

http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2015/06/01/nevada-gop-governor-secures-unlikely-win-with-tax-increase

Cigarette tax and e cigarettes debated in ND legislature

By KX News

Bismarck, ND -A bill that would have substantially raised taxes on cigarettes in North Dakota failed Friday afternoon.
But two others limiting access to electronic cigarettes passed.
The proposed cigarette tax would have raised taxes more than 200 percent on a package of cigarettes.
Currently the cigarette tax in North Dakota is 44 cents.
By contrast, the tax in Minnesota is 2.90 and in South Dakota it’s a 1.53.
Supporters of the bill say the increase would reduce the number of smokers and lower health care costs.
“Whenever a tobacco tax is increased, smoking, especially youth smoking goes down and it goes down dramatically. That I believe is undeniable,” says Rep. Jon Nelson, R – Rugby.
Bill opponents argued that a tax won’t stop smoking, and burdens business.
“If it truly is our duty to coerce people into a healthy lifestyle through taxation, why don’t we tax fast food with high fat content and high cholesterol, all things supersized and salt,” says Rep. Rick Becker, R – Bismarck.
The cigarette tax bill failed by a 56-34 vote.
The house passed two bills designed to keep e-cigarettes away from kids.
The two bills differ in these ways —
One labels e-cigarettes as tobacco products, tying them to the laws and enforcement already in place for cigarettes.
Those laws include things like compliance checks from local police and how cigarettes are displayed in stores.
The other bill separates e-cigarettes into their own category with their own set of enforcement laws.
“I don’t know how we can separate the idea of discussing e-cigarettes and then we’re going to talk about the taxing of tobacco when it’s clearly a tobacco product,” says Rep. Kenton Onstad, D – Parshall.
“We do not want kids under the age of 18 to buy cigarettes, whether it be on the internet, whether it be in the store. E-cigarettes, anywhere. We don’t want them to by regular cigarettes, we don’t want them to buy e-cigarettes,” says Rep. Al Carlson, R – Fargo.
Both bills now move to the Senate where only one, if any, is likely to pass.
http://www.wdaz.com/news/north-dakota/3679119-cigarette-tax-and-e-cigarettes-debated-nd-legislature

Forum editorial: Raise cigarette tax in ND

North Dakota should raise taxes on tobacco products. The state’s tax is among the lowest in the nation (44 cents on a pack of cigarettes); indeed lower than some of the major tobacco-growing states.
Raising the tax, which has been at an embarrassing low level for decades, comports nicely with North Dakota’s successful anti-tobacco public health efforts, and specifically would deter young people from buying cigarettes. Every state that has raised cigarette taxes has found it is a significant factor in preventing youngsters and young adults from buying.
Two bills are in the legislative hopper. A House bill calls for an increase to $1.56 a pack; a Senate bill would raise the tax to $1.10. Both bills have bipartisan sponsors, recognition that recent public opinion surveys found support for a higher tax among all political persuasions, with the only resistance to a higher tax coming from smokers. The tax increases in both bills are too low, but would be a start if a majority of lawmakers see the issue for what it is: a public health initiative, not retail sales problem.
It is first and foremost a public health matter. Of course retail sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products would take a hit. That’s the aim of a higher tax. So the crux of the matter is the choice posited by columnist Steve Andrist in the Crosby (N.D.) Journal: “In the final analysis, it comes down to what you want to save: sales or lives.”
The retail lobby and legislators who oppose a higher tax are confronted with that stark choice.
The most recent poll of North Dakotans’ attitudes about a higher tobacco tax (and the e-cigarette phenomenon) shows a majority of all partisan subgroups support an increase. Not surprisingly, the state’s smoke-free law, which was resisted for years by the Legislature and was at last approved by ballot measure, has support across all partisan and demographic lines, according to the December 2014 Public Opinion Strategies poll.
Furthermore, the polling found that attempts to allow e-cigarettes in public places (that is, exempt them from the state’s tobacco restrictions law), “is a non-starter with North Dakotans.” The few lawmakers pushing e-cig exemptions might want to rethink their proposals.
Finally, the lesson of the Legislature’s longtime refusal to act on a statewide tobacco-use ban is instructive for the tax debate. A ballot measure to enact a ban – after several cities, large and small had imposed their own bans – easily passed a statewide vote. It was a clear repudiation of the Legislature’s intransigence on the tobacco issue.
If lawmakers remain in the pocket of a shortsighted and out-of-step retail lobby (the same group that vigorously fought a statewide smoking ban), North Dakotans would be justified in taking the tobacco tax to the ballot. All indications suggest it would win easy approval.
Forum editorials represent the opinion of Forum management and the newspaper’s Editorial Board.
http://www.inforum.com/opinion/editorials/3675987-forum-editorial-raise-cigarette-tax-nd

ND House to vote on raising the tobacco tax this week

By WDAY News

Bismarck, ND (WDAY TV) – The North Dakota House will decide this week whether to raise tobacco taxes. The state has not done so since 1993.
Republican Rep. Jon Nelson of Rugby is pushing a bill that would raise state cigarette tax from 44 cents to $1.52 a pack. Taxes on snuff would go from 60 cents to $2.72.
Nelson says the bill could save lives.
The House Finance and Taxation Committee voted 12 to 2 to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation. The full House will decide later this week.
http://www.wday.com/news/north-dakota/3674367-nd-house-vote-raising-tobacco-tax-week

Opinion: Shame on North Dakota tobacco product sellers

By Howard Oppegard from Valley City, N.D.

Shame on retailers who oppose a tax increase on tobacco products in North Dakota (Forum story, Feb. 4).
Since greed may be their motivation, they should be reminded cancer victims do not buy anything. My sister, a smoker, died from lung cancer one month after her 50th birthday.
http://www.inforum.com/letters/3674263-letter-shame-north-dakota-tobacco-product-sellers

What to watch in North Dakota's Legislature: Common Core, tobacco taxes, surge funding

By JAMES MacPHERSON  Associated Press

BISMARCK, North Dakota — The North Dakota Legislature will remain busy this week introducing and finishing voting on bills in their respective chambers, including those that address education standards, tobacco taxes and surge funding.

COMMON CORE

North Dakota’s House is slated to vote this week whether to repeal new state English and math standards that outline what students should know and when. The House Education Committee voted 9-4 last week to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation.

Rep. Jim Kasper, R-Fargo, is sponsoring the legislation to repeal Common Core education standards for students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Kasper and other critics believe the standards represent a federal takeover of education.

Backers contend the standards provide students with the critical thinking and writing skills needed for college and the workforce.

North Dakota adopted the standards in 2011 and began to fully implement them during the current school year. Assessments based on the new standards will start for all students this spring.

North Dakota School Superintendent Kirsten Baesler said more than 130 educators from around the state were involved in helping develop the Common Core standards.

TOBACCO TAXES

North Dakota hasn’t raised it tax on tobacco since 1993 and the streak appears to have no immediate end in sight.

Rep. Jon Nelson, R-Rugby, is pushing the bill that would raise the state’s cigarette tax from 44 cents to $1.54 a pack, equal to the national average. Tax on a can of snuff would jump from 60 cents to $2.72.

Nelson believes the measure will save lives by deterring young people from taking up the habit.

Retailers have successfully fought off several attempts to raise the state’s tobacco tax in the past two decades, arguing that it punishes retailers and unfairly targets low-income North Dakotans.

The House Finance and Taxation Committee voted 12-2 to give the bill a do-not-pass recommendation. The full House will decide whether to reject the measure on smokes, chew and chewing tobacco.

North Dakota ranks 46th among states in the amount of tax smokers pay. New York charges the most state excise tax in the nation at $4.35. A $1.54-per-pack tax would put North Dakota more in line with neighboring states

SURGE FUNDING

North Dakota’s Senate already has approved $1.1 billion in special funding so that infrastructure projects can begin by this summer. The measure is slated to go before the House Appropriations Committee on Wednesday.

The “surge funding” bill that would fast-track funding to cities, school districts and communities impacted by North Dakota’s exploding growth.

House budget writers have asked cities, counties and townships to provide a detailed listing of “shovel ready” projects and the estimated cost of each project that would be completed this year.

HEITKAMP BILL

A bill that would prohibit the governor from appointing a successor to a vacant North Dakota congressional seat is slated to be heard by the House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee this week.

Republican Rep. Roscoe Streyle, a Minot banker, introduced the bill, which is response to a rumored gubernatorial bid next year by popular freshman Democratic U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp.

She’s been mum on the subject.

Heitkamp won’t be up for re-election in the Senate until 2018. Republican Gov. Jack Dalrymple hasn’t said whether he plans to seek another term as governor.

Heitkamp is the only Democrat holding a statewide office in North Dakota. The former state auditor and attorney general unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2000.

http://www.therepublic.com/view/story/4d58129cf6c1441ba45a72e5de9185da/ND–In-the-Legislature