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Ron Russell, a high-energy, outgoing machinist at Hav-A-Tampa cigar factory, isn't an activist, but every so often the outrage wells up. . . . Now 43, Russell is speaking out again on what he considers another outrage: the upcoming closure of the Hav-A-Tampa factory near Seffner, where he's worked for about four years.
Russell crafted a letter he plans to send to congressional supporters of an increased federal cigar tax, chastising them for "short-sightedness" in taxing a 102-year-old local factory out of existence. He got more than 90 co-workers to sign it.
Local radio talk-show hosts have seized on the issue and read Russell's letter on the air, singling out U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor for criticism.
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Cigar-makers supported expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program. We believe everyone should have access to quality health care.
What we opposed was Congress' decision to fund the expansion of this government program by taxing a single industry. Health care should be a shared responsibility.
We pleaded with the leaders of Congress not to tax us out of business. We explained how a 700 percent tax increase would cost jobs and force some cigar companies to close their doors.
Sadly, our pleas fell on deaf ears and what we feared has become reality.
When will Congress understand that it cannot dramatically raise taxes on businesses without costing jobs?
How ironic it is that many former Hav-A-Tampa employees could soon need assistance from the very government program whose expansion cost them their jobs and health insurance in the first place.
-- Eric M. Newman is president of the J.C. Newman Cigar Co., which was founded by his grandfather in 1895, and president of the Cigar Manufacturers Association of Tampa
Cigarettes in Vermont cost a quarter more a pack and $2.50 more a carton, and the 6 percent state sales tax applies for the first time to liquor, all the result of legislation that took effect Wednesday. Liquor? No big deal, beverage store proprietors said. Cigarettes? That's another story. . . .
"They're trying to out-price it," she said of the extra 25 cents a pack, "but if everyone stopped smoking, they'd have to find something else to go after."
Would the extra charge persuade her to stop?
"Probably not," she said.
Maher said the state's intent was to "isolate a certain group." The price increases would at some point lead to bootlegging, she said. "It'll be what the Prohibition was."
Frantz Ozanic, a 20-year smoker, also standing in front of the library, said Vermont was moving in steps to make cigarettes "unobtainable."
Clipping away at a $590 million deficit, Rhode Island this April raised its taxes on cigarettes by $1 to $3.46 a pack - the highest rate in the country. With the backing of its governor, a former tobacco lobbyist, Mississippi in May imposed its first tax hike on smokers in more than two decades - up 50 cents to 68 cents a pack - and is already considering another increase. . . .
"You have to go back decades to see states with such budget shortfalls," said Sujit CanagaRetna, a state budget and tax expert at the Council of State Governments. "A sin tax is a low-hanging fruit. Politicians are more prone to go down that path because doing so is just not as onerous."
Other experts, however, regard these short-term budget patches as part of a larger problem. One leading anti-tax activist, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, said a better solution to burgeoning budget gaps is to cut state spending.
"Any problem of overspending that could be passed on to cigarettes could be fixed by just spending more wisely," Norquist said. "The problem with the tax increase isn't just that it's a tax increase, … it is that the tax is what you did instead of reforming state government."
For lawmakers scrounging to balance state budgets in a recession, tobacco taxes were one of the most popular options on the table this year. Seven states -- Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Mississippi, Rhode Island and Vermont -- tapped smokers' wallets to help plug their budget gaps, up from two states in 2008. More than 20 additional states debated whether to follow suit, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
But there are growing signs that tobacco, which generated about $19 billion for states in revenue from sales and excise taxes last fiscal year, might not deliver the new money state lawmakers are hoping for.
In a double-whammy for smokers, the federal government on April 1 also imposed a 62-cent increase in its cigarette tax, raising it to $1.01 a pack, and the Food and Drug Administration is assuming sweeping authority over the tobacco industry. Together, the two federal moves are likely to depress cigarette sales -- already in decline -- that every state counts on for extra cash. According to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan research group, the federal increase in cigarette prices could hold down sales and dent states' tobacco tax receipts by $1.6 billion next fiscal year. In addition, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the proposed FDA regulations could slash states' tobacco excise revenue by an additional $20 million in 2010 -- and up to $300 million by 2014. . . .
That's why state health departments tend to celebrate tobacco taxes as hard-fought victories. In New York, where the state cigarette tax is $2.75 a pack, health officials say a combination of higher taxes and smoking bans have lowered health-care costs statewide. . . .
. But while states have long-term financial and health reasons to discourage smoking, they remain hooked in the short term on these "sin taxes" -- excises on vices such as smoking, drinking and gambling that are politically easier to increase than sales or income taxes. . . .
Others regard these short-term budget patches as part of a larger problem. One leading critic of higher taxes, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, said a better solution to burgeoning budget gaps is to cut state spending.
"Any problem of overspending that could be passed on to cigarettes could be fixed by just spending more wisely," Norquist said. "The problem with the tax increase isn't just that it's a tax increase. . . . It is that the tax is what you did instead of reforming state government."
CIGARETTES would cost more than $20 for a packet of 30 and come in plain wrapping under a radical proposal being considered by the Federal Government to fund a massive preventive health program.
The cigarette tax hike and ban on all remaining forms of tobacco advertising have been included in the Federal Government's yet-to-be-released Preventative Health Taskforce report.
The report, being examined by Health Minister Nicola Roxon, urges the Federal Government to slash smoking rates in the next decade to 9 per cent of the adult population, cutting the number of people 14 and older who smoke daily from 3 million to 2 million.
Under the changes cigarette packets would be generic with larger graphic health warnings . . .
The plan has been strongly backed by anti-smoking organisations such as the Public Health Association, the Cancer Council and the National Heart Foundation but has alarmed cigarette companies, which are claiming such changes could be unlawful.
RIGHT in the middle of Australia's biggest city, you can walk into a shop and buy an illegal packet of under-the-counter cigarettes for $7.
Apart from being much cheaper than the mainstream brands, which sell for about $13 a packet, they don't have any of those confronting health warnings.
The ready availability of illegal cigarettes, which are understood to be in stock near many housing commission estates around the country, runs counter to a blizzard of government policies designed to discourage smoking. These include a NSW government ban on smoking in cars carrying children that started this week. . . .
Inner-Sydney resident Les Shearman has been trying for years to expose the illegal cigarette trade because of his concern about its impact on his friends' health. He believes the ready availability of cheap cigarettes is a major factor in their excessive smoking.
The Weekend Australian accompanied Mr Shearman while he purchased an illegal packet from Broadway Tobacco, located on one of the city's busiest thoroughfares. It took only seconds for him to purchase the pack from the woman behind the counter. No questions. No fuss.
"They are incredibly easy to get," he said. . . .
"If it is so easy for the likes of you and me to find a shop selling illegal cigarettes, why is it so difficult for the Australian Federal Police to find them?" Professor Chapman said.
it struck me as funny when then-Speaker of the House Marco Rubio said, back when the tax bill was coming up for a vote, that though he was a staunchly anti-tax guy, he leaned toward voting for this one.
"I'm not against it if it's designed to get people to stop smoking," he explained.
Heck, that leaves me worried about the rich. Those who can't feel the pain of a little dollar-a-pack tax increase won't get the benefits of this tax-enforced social engineering. And why should the wealthy be left behind as state lawmakers save thousands of not-so-affluent Floridians from an early death?
Actually, the experts agree that most smokers who haven't already quit despite previous tax increases and decades of health warnings are mostly the solidly addicted who will not stop now, either. . . .
Florida, despite its stated anti-smoking efforts, is just becoming a bigger stakeholder in the tobacco industry. More than ever, state government will now share the industry's profit-hungry motive to keep cigarette sales legal and profitable.
A New York man appeared in federal court in that state Wednesday to answer charges that he lied about his role in the sale of untaxed cigarettes at the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop in Arlington.
Arthur "Sugar" Montour, 37, turned himself in to federal authorities in response to a Seattle grand jury indictment charging that he made multiple false statements when he denied having sold his Seneca brand cigarettes to the Blue Stilly, which operated on Stillaguamish tribal land for about five years. He was released and is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom in Washington on July 10.
Montour did not respond to messages left for him at the offices of his company, Native Wholesale Supply, located about 30 miles south of Buffalo, N.Y., on the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation. Native Wholesale Supply sells Seneca brand cigarettes.
The indictment is the latest in a series of federal actions in connection with the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop. The shop operated without a state cigarette compact between 2003 and 2007. It was owned and operated by Eddie Goodridge Jr., who was until recently the Stillaguamish Tribe's executive director. His parents, Ed and Linda Goodridge, shared ownership of the shop. Ed Goodridge was a longtime tribal leader.
A federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted a New York tobacco wholesaler in a recent crackdown on a smoke shop near Arlington run by former Stillaguamish tribal leaders who were selling millions of cartons of untaxed cigarettes.
A federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted a New York State tobacco wholesaler in a recent crackdown on a smoke shop near Arlington run by former Stillaguamish tribal leaders who were selling millions of cartons of untaxed cigarettes.
The indictment against Arthur "Sugar" Montour, 37, of Perrysburg, N.Y., alleges that he lied in sworn statements about selling cigarettes to the smoke shop in proceedings seeking forfeiture of more than $50,000 paid to him by the smoke shop.
In March, three former Stillaguamish tribal council members, Edward Goodridge Sr., 60, Edward Goodridge Jr., 33, and Sara Lee Schroedl, 40, were sentenced to federal prison for making millions of dollars dealing untaxed smokes out of the Blue Stilly Smoke Shop.
Florida's $1-a-pack cigarette tax kicked in Wednesday, the first such hike in two decades.
Smokers are fuming.
Diane Mulvey, of Gulf Stream, wrote the governor arguing the tax would only "cause more grief and aggravation to the household budget."
"If you believe that strongly in stopping people from smoking, then just ban it altogether," she wrote. "Taxing is about money. Banning it supports your belief that it is something that should not be happening."
At one point this spring, as legislators were passing the tobacco tax, the governor's office tallied 1,730 e-mails objecting to the idea. The American Cancer Society turned in 30,000 petitions arguing the opposite: the higher tax will lower smoking rates and save lives.
Many smokers who wrote to Gov. Charlie Crist wondered why other vices, such as alcohol or fatty foods, weren't targeted. One proposed new taxes on expensive cars, boats over 20 feet and maid services - taxes that wouldn't be "directly aimed" at the poor and middle class.
Alfred Fernandes had a typically blunt message. The Cape Coral resident said it's easy to pass such a tax when the 80 percent of Floridians who don't smoke get a "free ride."
The state's new cigarette tax kicked in Wednesday which increases Florida's cigarette tax from .34 cents a pack to a $1.34 a pack. State legislators passed the law during the recent legislative session.
Henry Robles, who was buying a couple of extra packs Tuesday night at a Shell gas station on Sunrise Boulevard in Ft. Lauderdale, said he planed to keeping up his two-pack-per-day habit knowing that the new tax was going to burn a hole in his pocket.
"I really don't want to think about it but I think it's gonna be a lot (of money)," Robles told CBS 4's Carey Codd.
The clerk at the gas station said cigarette sales were brisk Tuesday, as smokers stocked up in advance of the new tax.
The Tobacco Free Coalition of Oregon (TOFCO) applauds House Speaker Dave Hunt (D – Oregon City) and Representative Sara Gelser (D – Corvallis) for their leadership in passing H.B. 2672, a bill that will protect Oregon’s children from easy access to smokeless tobacco products and help prevent the marketing of these products to young people.
This vital youth protection measure will increase the cost of tobacco products including, but not limited to, new candy and pouch tobacco products such as Snus and Orbs, as well as existing chewing tobacco products and cigars.
“They may look like gum. They may look like breath mints. They may taste like candy. But make no mistake -- these products will kill our children. This is tobacco with training wheels,” said State Rep. Sara Gelser (D-Corvallis-Philomath). “This bill will stop kids from taking up another dangerous habit that today falls outside the tobacco master settlement agreement regulating advertising aimed at teens.”
The economic situation has renewed the ongoing debate about the level of taxes imposed on a pack of cigarettes. Advocates of higher taxes say these levies should discourage smoking, good from a public health perspective. Smokers say they are being singled out in an effort to generate revenue. The first cigarette taxes in the U.S. were levied by an act of Congress on this day in 1864. Placing stamps on each package to show that the tax had been paid came along four years later.
Wisconsin leaders have taken a positive step to protect the state's kids and taxpayers from the devastating toll of tobacco by increasing the state cigarette tax by 75 cents. However, it is deeply disappointing that despite this increase in tobacco-related revenue, state leaders approved a budget that cuts funding by more than half for critical tobacco prevention and cessation programs. This devastating cut will reduce the number of people who quit as a result of the cigarette tax increase and undermine successful programs already in place to protect kids and help smokers quit.
The budget cut will reduce the amount Wisconsin spends a year on tobacco prevention and cessation programs to just $6.85 million a year. This is barely one-tenth of the $64.3 million that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that Wisconsin spend each year on such programs. It is also just a fraction of the hundreds of millions of dollars the state collects each year from tobacco taxes and the 1998 state tobacco settlement.
It is penny-wise and pound-foolish to shortchange tobacco prevention programs.