http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/state/MS.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://www.mcherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080926/NEWS/80926002 http://tobacco.org/news/271670.html In an effort to discourage tobacco use in city parks, a state tobacco awareness organization has donated "tobacco-free" signs to three Madison County cities. The Mississippi Tobacco Free Coalition of Madison and Yazoo Counties has given signs to Ridgeland, Canton and Madison. The signs read "This Park is a Tobacco-Free Zone" and are meant to discourage not only cigarette smoking but also dip, snuff and other forms of tobacco. In addition to the signs, the coalition donated tobacco-free bumper stickers to Ridgeland. Madison County Herald leah.square@mcherald.com (Leah Square) Sat, 27 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/NEWS/80924001 http://tobacco.org/news/271568.html The Picayune City Council will hear from the public October 21 on a proposed smoking ban. The public hearing has been scheduled for 6 p.m. at the city hall. AP Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080908/NEWS/80908019 http://tobacco.org/news/271314.html Gov. Haley Barbour said today his latest plan to raise hospital taxes and cut Medicaid services will not be necessary since another way has been found to balance the health care program's budget. . . . Barbour, a former Washington tobacco lobbyist, did not want to discuss raising tobacco taxes in the special session. He has since said that he will not oppose a tobacco tax increase, because a commission he appointed to study taxes recommended the 18-cent tax should be raised. He reiterated his support for a hospital tax plan when the regular legislative session convenes in January. But House Medicaid Committee Chairman Dirk Dedeaux said that chamber will continue to push for a tobacco tax hike as a long-term funding solution. "I think the cigarette tax is expected to be part of the solution to the Medicaid problem," Dedeaux, D-Perkinston, said. Jackson Clarion-Ledger natalie.chandler@clarionledger.com (Natalie Chandler ) Mon, 08 Sep 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.wjtv.com/gulfcoastwest/jtv/news.apx.-content-articles-JTV-2008-08-15-0009.html http://tobacco.org/news/271133.html It is now illegal to smoke in bars and restaurants in Clinton. A ban on lighting up in public places took effect Friday. The new ordinance also prohibits smoking in most hotel and motel rooms in the city. Violators can be fined up to $500. And businesses that don't comply can face first time offense of $100. The Clinton board of aldermen unanimously adopted the ban last month. . . . Bar and restaurant patrons must remain at least 30 feet away from the main entrance before they can light up. WJTV News Channel 12 CBS radams@wjtv.com (Ross Adams) Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.leadercall.com/opinion/local_story_235103758.html?keyword=secondarystory http://tobacco.org/news/270331.html Republicans in the Mississippi Legislature have suddenly gotten religion when it comes to raising the state's ludicrously low tax on cigarettes. Republican lawmakers have spent the last several years helping Gov. Haley Barbour block efforts to raise the tax, including during the recent fruitless special session. Now some GOP leaders, including Lt. Gov. Phil Bryant, are saying let us take another crack at it in yet another special session in September or October. . . . Bryant, however, actually may have a good idea to pass the tax hike first, then haggle in January over what to do with it. There are going to be a host of ideas -- many of them worthwhile, some of them stinkers -- about what to do with the proceeds. We can see the whole effort bogging down over how to spend the money and nothing getting enacted. The revenue potential is only half of the motivation for raising the tax. The other is making cigarettes more expensive so that more smokers are enticed to quit and fewer young people ever start. Laurel Leader-Call Fri, 22 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.wapt.com/money/17236425/detail.html?rss=jac&psp=news http://tobacco.org/news/270242.html A study group appointed by Gov. Haley Barbour is recommending that Mississippi increase its cigarette tax to 50 cents a pack. The tax study commission met for several hours Tuesday at the state Agriculture Museum. The group is trying to release a final, comprehensive list of suggested changes for the tax code by next week. The commission voted to recommend the current 28 cent tax be increased by 32 cents, to reach a total of 50 cents. AP Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=277831&pub=1&div=News http://tobacco.org/news/270227.html Six defendants in the U.S. government's drug and contraband cigarette conspiracy case will not face forfeiture of their property derived from their misdeeds, court records show. . . . Last week, Saleh Ali Rashed was sentenced after pleading guilty to buying untaxed cigarettes for sale at the Friendly Market. Her sentence has not yet been recorded. Muna Ahmed, who pleaded guilty to one count of drug conspiracy and selling contraband cigarettes a few weeks ago, was sentenced to three years probation per count, to run concurrently. The court will require her to wear an electronic monitoring device during the six months of home detention, records show. She also will pay a $12,000 fine and restitution of $108 to the Mississippi State Tax Commission. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal DJWebmaster@djournal.com (PATSY R. BRUMFIELD Daily Journal) Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/OPINION01/808190330/1008/OPINION http://tobacco.org/news/270215.html As expected, the commission did recommend increasing the state tobacco tax with a couple of suggestions on how much - which appear designed to keep the tax in line with surrounding states or the South. While Barbour has been a staunch opponent of such a tax increase and has successfully blocked it in the Legislature, he now says he will not oppose it in line with his own commission's recommendation. That is a step forward. It now will be up to the Legislature to decide how much and how to spend it. Lawmakers should make it a first order of business. Jackson Clarion-Ledger Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/NEWS/80819024 http://tobacco.org/news/270214.html A commission studying Mississippi taxes today recommended hiking the state's 18-cent cigarette tax to 50 cents per pack. The increase, if approved by the legislature and Gov. Haley Barbour, would bring Mississippi's tobacco tax in line with surrounding states. Barbour, a Republican who appointed members of the commission, has said he would not oppose their recommendation. Jackson Clarion-Ledger natalie.chandler@clarionledger.com (Natalie Chandler ) Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=277767&pub=1&div=Opinion http://tobacco.org/news/270213.html A draft of Gov. Barbour's Blue Ribbon Tax Study Commission report reveals broadly based opportunities for reforming Mississippi's tax system, but some of the draft's options fall short of what some had hoped would be a more aggressive shift on sales taxes, particularly involving food and cigarette taxation. . . . We agree with those who say raising the cigarette tax would provide a disincentive to smoking, especially among adolescents. The 18-cent tax in force now isn't a disincentive to anything except better health. There is consensus by the international medical community that cigarette smoking puts individuals at higher risk for many diseases - cancer, heart disease, emphysema, stroke, and arteriosclerosis, to name several - and the treatment is expensive. The same consensus exists that Medicaid bears a significant portion of those treatment costs. The issue is the size of the Medicaid program's costs. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention places nationwide cost at billions for all the states in treating smoking-induced illness, and between $50 million and $100 million at a minimum is spent in Mississippi through Medicaid. The cost will rise unless smoking is stemmed. Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal DJWebmaster@djournal.com Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080819/OPINION01/808190323 http://tobacco.org/news/270212.html The draft report released by Gov. Haley Barbour's tax study commission on Friday offers a smorgasbord of changes that will please or irritate any number of groups or individuals. The commission, which has been meeting in Jackson for several weeks, was given the task of looking at the state's entire tax structure and coming up with recommendations. It's important to note this is a draft report. On several issues, such as a cigarette tax, the commission did not make a recommendation but considered various options, including boosting the 18-cents a pack tax to 36 cents or 50 cents. However, the panel recommended that any tobacco tax increases should be put in the general fund and not assigned to a particular program, such as Medicaid. Hattiesburg American Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20081442&BRD=1377&PAG=461&dept_id=172922&rfi=6 http://tobacco.org/news/270210.html The yearlong debate over funding the Division of Medicaid's $90 million shortfall went back to the courts Friday, when a group of about 40 hospitals finally filed a long-expected lawsuit against Gov. Haley Barbour. The hospital group is asking the Hinds County Chancery Judge William Singletary to block, or at least delay, Barbour's newest plan to raise hospital taxes and cut and modify Medicaid reimbursements. His plan is scheduled to go into effect Sept. 1. Brookhaven Daily Leader Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.wxvt.com/Global/story.asp?S=8864923&nav=menu1344_2 http://tobacco.org/news/270209.html The leader of a Mississippi tax study commission says the group is trying to put its report in final form by next week. Businessman Leland Speed says a preliminary list of suggested changes includes more tax cuts than tax increases. AP Tue, 19 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.wlox.com/Global/story.asp?S=8853131&nav=6DJI http://tobacco.org/news/270134.html The debate over a cigarette tax increase was at the heart of the Medicaid funding stalemate that dragged on for months. Now, the tax increase Governor Barbour opposed, is being recommended by a commission he appointed; something some lawmakers say they've been recommending all along. "It's kind of disappointing that we asked for this all the time and no one listened to us in the state House of Representatives. It is only after you get a tax commission of your choice that you would come back and say, oh this is different now. What's the difference when we asked for it," says Democrat Frances Fredericks, District 119. The commission suggested raising the cigarette tax from 18 cents to 50 cents a pack. WLOX-TV kallan@wlox.com (Krystal Allan) Sat, 16 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.governorbarbour.com/news/documents/DraftFinalTSCReport.Aug15.pdf http://tobacco.org/news/270127.html On January 3, 2008, Governor Haley Barbour announced the creation of a public-private Blue Ribbon Tax Study Commission (the Commission) developed to study Mississippi’s tax code and recommend reforms. Nationally, state tax systems are becoming obsolete and are not keeping up with the ever-changing United States economy. Piecemeal updates are no longer sufficient and comprehensive examinations are needed. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 37 states have conducted tax studies since 2000 to revisit how they assess taxes on their people. Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour Fri, 15 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT