Tobacco.org

Barbour expected to sign cigarette tax bill  

Lawmakers expect to give final approval next week to a bill increasing Mississippi's cigarette tax to 68 cents for generating much-needed revenues and fortifying the state's diminishing car tag reduction fund.

After being bogged down since January on the legislation, the House and Senate have a compromise to vote on and send to Gov. Haley Barbour. Legislative negotiators Tuesday reached a deal that will generate an estimated $112 million a year.

"We needed to bring this to some type of finality. It's been going on for a long time -- not only this year but in previous years," said House Ways and Means Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, the House's chief negotiator on the bill to raise the state's 18-cent-a-pack tax and ensure car taxes don't go up.

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