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Lawmakers: Raise will reduce deficit
Jump to full article: Connecticut Post, 2009-06-24
Author: Brian Lockhart Staff Writer
Intro: "We're looking at 50 cents, we're looking at 75 cents and what it would raise," said state Rep. Cameron Staples, D-New Haven, a chairman of the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.
According to data provided by the state budget office, the $2 tax on cigarettes is anticipated to bring in about $315 million in the current fiscal year.
The Democrats' earlier budget proposal estimated that a 50-cent increase would result in an additional $32 million in revenue in the 2009-10 fiscal year, and $63 million the following years.
"Nothing at this point is set in concrete," Staples said.
But his co-chairman, state Sen. Eileen Daily, D-Westbrook, who smokes, said an increase is
likely.
That angered state Rep. Terry Backer, D-Stratford, a pack-a-day smoker.
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