AUGUSTA, Maine --Leaving the door open to one last round of negotiated spending, legislative bargainers put finishing touches Friday on a two-year budget package worth close to $6.4 billion that includes a mandatory school system consolidation plan and does without a major tobacco tax increase originally proposed by Gov. John Baldacci.
"We're going to lose a few of ours and we're going to lose a few of theirs" when majority Democrats and minority Republicans on the Appropriations Committee send their final product upstairs for consideration by the full Senate and House of Representatives, said Democratic Rep. Jeremy Fischer of Presque Isle, the Appropriations Committee's House chairman.
But with House and Senate leaders on board and the committee itself strongly united, prospects for passage would seem to be positive.
A wild card, however, is the reception for the school system consolidation component, which seeks to address widespread demands led by Baldacci for a cost-saving reining-in of Maine's far-flung network of local school units while also accommodating legislative and local concerns about top-down regulation.
Baldacci's original proposal was to establish 26 regional education units, a significant reduction from Maine's current 152 school administrative systems.
The revised plan prepared for inclusion in the budget envisions 80 units, based on desired student populations of about 2,500. Exceptions would be available, but sanctions could face non-complying communities. The budget package counts $36.5 million in savings.
Service cuts, funding transfers and numerous other budgetary initiatives are designed to balance the overall package while dispensing with the governor's proposal for $136 million in new tobacco levies.
To show the depth of spending cutbacks already put forth, Baldacci administration officials this week outlined $130 million to $140 million in savings that had been proposed within the state Department of Health and Human Services.
Still up for debate, participants said Friday, were additional spending initiatives including more funding for higher education. That issue could simmer over the weekend. A final review of new budget language by the Appropriations panel is not expected before Tuesday.
Last Monday, University of Maine System trustees tentatively raised tuition by an average of 12.6 percent while appealing to the Legislature for additional state funding to help soften the blow.
The board authorized Chancellor Terrence MacTaggart to recalculate and lower the tuition hike in the event that lawmakers approve a university appropriation that exceeds the $5 million increase contained in Gov. John Baldacci's proposed budget.
Tuition at the seven-campus system has gone up each year since 1996 and now averages $6,450 a year for undergraduates. Last year's increase averaged 8.7 percent systemwide.
MacTaggart said adding $6 million to the governor's recommended $5 million increase would lower the tuition hike to 7 percent.
Republican insistence that new taxes be avoided appeared to have been rewarded in the all-but-final package.
Rep. Sawin Millett, R-Waterford, the ranking House Republican on the Appropriations Committee, said the budget total would be about $100 million less than Baldacci requested.
"This budget still takes care of those Mainers who are most in need, but we engaged in a process of setting spending priorities, which is not typical," Millett said in a statement.
"Even though we are in the minority, we were able to exert influence on priorities. And some of the structural changes we are making in education and MaineCare are critical, so that future budgets will not be driven by unsustainable cost pressures, Millett said.
Democratic Sen. John Martin of Eagle Lake said he saw no real winners and losers among various legislative factions.
"I'd say no one got anything. It's bare-bones," he said.
A late amendment was prepared Friday to reflect a $26 million
contract settlement with the largest state employees union. The cost was said to
be the equivalent of 2 percent increases in each year of the biennium.
US Senate approves budget, backs tobacco tax hike
Mar 23, 2007
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Friday approved a $2.9 trillion fiscal 2008 budget that calls for an increase in the federal tobacco tax and gives popular middle class tax breaks priority for future tax cuts.
The Senate passed the Democratic-written budget blueprint on a 52-47 vote that was largely along party lines. Republicans called it a big tax and spend document while Democrats said it was fiscally responsible and puts the budget on track toward balance in five years.
"This budget resolution will lead to more spending, more tax increases and increased debt," Republican Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi said, adding that "the budget is kind of a joke."
Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, a North Dakota Democrat, argued in the Senate that the budget "takes us in a new direction. It takes us back to fiscal responsibility. It takes us toward a balanced budget by 2012."
The budget blueprint for fiscal 2008, which begins Oct. 1, sets up overall spending and revenue goals and it will be up to individual committees to determine where the money goes.
Democrats resisted efforts by Republicans to force spending cuts for the Medicare health program for the elderly and other entitlement programs.
Conrad and Sen. Judd Gregg, a New Hampshire Republican, have been trying to form a bipartisan plan to address the financial strains to Medicare and Social Security posed by an aging baby boom generation and rapidly escalating health care costs.
The Senate embraced a Democratic amendment that gave children's health care and the child tax credit and other popular middle class tax cuts top priority for surplus revenues that might be generated in the future.
But Democrats resisted Republican efforts to add estate tax cuts and capital gains and dividend tax breaks to the list of priorities. President George W. Bush's tax cuts expire at the end of 2010 and Republicans are pushing to make them permanent.
The Senate agreed to amendment by Sen. Gordon Smith, an Oregon Republican, that calls for increasing the 39 cent a pack tobacco tax to finance and expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, which provides health care coverage for poor children.
"It is inexcusable in the United States of America that millions of children go without health care coverage," Smith said in a statement.
A 61-cent increase would generate an estimated $35 billion for the health care program, Smith said.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to consider its version of the budget next week and the two chambers would have to work out their differences.
Maine: Fuming over (Cigarette) taxNow 49, he thinks about quitting every day, but he doesn't plan to do so anytime soon, even as Maine prepares to increase its excise tax from $1 per pack to $2 to help balance the state budget.
Snow, who lives in Portland, smokes a pack a day and says he can afford the extra $7 a week, or $365 a year.
But he wonders about the smokers who can't, calling the cigarette tax regressive because smokers tend to have lower incomes than nonsmokers. He also found it hypocritical that some lawmakers justified the increase by saying it would encourage smokers to quit.
"It's duplicitous," Snow said. "I question their priorities and their intent."
The tax increase, which starts Sept. 19, is expected to raise an additional $46.8 million during the coming fiscal year and eliminate the need for the Legislature to borrow money to fund state government. The increase targets the estimated 22 percent of adult Mainers who smoke.
Snow, who is Portland's marine operations manager, believes legislators took the easy way out. He figures they chose to raise the tax on a legal product that has been demonized in the last decade. It was easier, he said, than reducing state spending or increasing other taxes - sales, corporate, real estate - that are opposed by strong lobbies.
To him, raising the cigarette tax to rescue the state budget is bad public policy.
"Why would you base the economy of your household, your business or your government on the behavior of addicts?" Snow said. "It doesn't make sense. What if we all quit? It's just not responsible. We're living beyond our means, there's no question about that."
Snow and other smokers wonder what would happen if the Legislature tried to levy an excise tax on coffee or scratch tickets or any other more acceptable habit. They figure nonsmokers should be concerned that one of their favorite activities will be targeted next.
"It's a very slippery slope we're on. Just because it's not their ox that's being gored," said Rose Kouroyen, 58, of Bangor. "When does it stop? When do they stop trying to control people's lives with the tax code?"
Kouroyen and her husband, Stephen, 61, say they are resisting what she calls the "jihad" against smokers, and that they're willing opponents of the "partnership for a smoke-free universe."
They decided to fight back three years ago, when they started rolling their own cigarettes. It takes about five minutes to roll 20 cigarettes using a metal machine, paper tubes with filters and loose-leaf tobacco, which costs about $15 for a pound bag. Each pack they roll costs about 85 cents - far less than Maine's average retail cost of $4.47 per pack.
"We started rolling our own when (the tax) got too onerous," she said.
Rose Kouroyen, who is a bookkeeper, started smoking when she was 11. Stephen Kouroyen, who is a carpenter, started when he was 10. They dispute studies that tout the cost of smoking-related illnesses on the American health-care system. They say nonsmokers wind up costing the system more because they live longer.
"People should be thankful because we drop dead earlier," Rose Kouroyen said, her voice tinged with sarcasm.
"Life is full of risks," she continued. "We all choose our own path in the inexorable march toward death. It's nobody else's business what I do with my own life.
"I just had a physical. Perfect heart. Perfect blood pressure. My doctor said to me, 'You obviously take good care of yourself.' Smoking probably isn't the healthiest thing you could do, but not everyone is a yogurt-eating runner."
Rose said she considered growing her own tobacco, which is catching on in other parts of the country. Instructions are featured on several smokers' rights Web sites. Growers must wear long sleeves and pants to prevent skin contact with tobacco's irritating itch. They also need significant space to process and cure the leaves.
"If it weren't so much trouble, I probably would grow it," she said. "I have enough trouble growing tomatoes."
Not everyone is so eager to fight.
Bob Mills, who lives in Biddeford, used to be a heavy smoker. He's down to two or three packs a week and calls himself a social smoker. He sees the cost of everything going up, including gasoline, and he's ready to cry uncle. He says the pending cigarette-tax increase may inspire him to quit smoking altogether.
"It's like I want to quit driving," said Mills, a 40-year-old property manager. "Everything's going up and this is one way I can save some money. I also don't want to support the tax because I feel I'm overtaxed now."
He said recent bans on smoking in restaurants, bars and other public places, along with the state's anti-smoking campaign, may encourage his decision.
"You're already having to smoke near the Dumpster," he said. "You're pretty much ostracized if you smoke."
Snow doesn't plan to quit, or grow his own, or drive to New Hampshire, where cigarettes cost less and the excise tax is lower. He already spends about $35 a week on cigarettes, and he's prepared to shell out another $7 come September.
Still, he's offended by the prospect of paying more for something he has the right to do.
"At the end of the day, smoking is a legal activity," Snow said. "In a society where we have freedom of choice, we should be allowed to do it and not be penalized for it."
Maine: Store Owner Pulls Cigarettes To Protest Tax Increase
6-23-05 - The owner of a discount store in Oxford has halted the sale of cigarettes to protest the Legislature's approval of a dollar-a-pack increase in the cigarette tax.OXFORD, Maine (AP) -- Manager Mike Sturgis of C and R Redemption said the store's owner, Ron Snow, disapproves of what the state is doing and wanted to take a stand.
Sturgis said his boss, who's not a smoker, feels the new tax is unfair because it would discriminate against those who smoke.
The doubling of the cigarette tax to two dollars a pack was approved by the Legislature as part of a bill to balance the state budget. If Governor John Baldacci signs the bill, it would take effect in September.
Session closes without deals on borrowing or tax relief
A package combining increases in taxes on tobacco and alcohol to raise funding for school aid and property tax relief programs failed in the House on a 62-76 tally.
Senate Bill S. 1490; Tax increase on cigs
9-30-03 - The
Senate will soon be asked to vote on S. 1490, a bill sponsored by Senator Mitch McConnell,
that if passed, attempts to impose a new $13 billion tax on tobacco manufacturers. Worse
yet, Senators Judd Gregg, Ted Kennedy, and Mike DeWine plan to introduce legislation
granting the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) complete authority to regulate all areas
of the tobacco industry. The mark-up of this bill will take place in the Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions Committee within the coming weeks. Should the FDA bill be
considered on the Senate floor, the McConnell tobacco quota buyout bill will be offered as
an amendment.
Article here
What is a surprise is what's coming in at
third place, revenues from cigarette
taxes. Shazzaam! Yes, my friends, the taxes
that Maine will collect from smokers will be the third-largest revenue generator. The
state is going to take in $95 million dollars worth of loot from smokers. That puts
tobacco tax revenues ahead of corporate income taxes - they're expected to bring in a mere
$90 million. And cigarette taxes don't include Maine's portion of the tobacco
settlement, estimated to bring in another $50 million a year.
Revenues from productivity, the work of corporations will now be surpassed by revenues from those sitting around sucking smoke. The state's economist, Laurie Lachance, was in shock. She said, "To think that our taxes on packages of cigarettes have passed the taxes on our corporations. It sounds like that can't be right, but it is. It's hard to fathom that cigarettes generate more revenue for the state, than corporations generate for the state."
Hey Laurie, what's really hard to fathom is that you, and so many others, don't even realize that the chief smoking addicts in the country are you guys in state government. Yeah, you're addicted to the money!
John D. Jacoby - April 29, 2002
$200M lost to smokes smugglers
23 Sept 2002 - New York Daily News
State Addicted to Tobacco Taxes
If taxpayers want more health insurance and trauma centers, let all the taxpayers--not just smokers--foot the bill. Indeed, cigarette surcharges are brutally regressive. They represent a wealth transfer from generally poor smokers to more affluent non-smokers. Roughly 60 percent of tobacco taxes are paid by smokers with annual incomes under $40,000.
Federal tax on cigarettes rises 5 cents
Wakefield clerks say the high cost of cigarettes in New York City - between $7 and $7.50 per pack - is driving their customers north to Mount Vernon or west to nearby Yonkers.
Al-Fata said the store used to make $3,000 a week selling cigarettes and cigars. Now it makes a mere $500 to $700 a week.
"They buy everything here - a beer, a sandwich, a soda," said Mozeb, who estimates the store's total sales are down 25% for the month.
Calif. cigarette tax threatens citizens' liberties
08/26/2002
LOS ANGELES -- Once again we the people of California find ourselves at the mercy of stupid politicians who don't understand the laws of economics. In an attempt to escape the financial rut they have created for themselves, Democrats in the State Assembly have proposed a cigarette tax of $2.13 per pack.
Online smoking sales choking states
Online sales of cigarettes could be costing states millions of dollars in unpaid taxes, according to a new report.
Smoking taxes burn some holes
22 July 2002`The Washington Times
As much as politicians and anti-smoking zealots hate to admit it, there are limits to how much states can tax tobacco. At some point, they may have to admit that the spillover consequences of high cigarette taxes might be worse than the effects of smoking.
Tobacco
Tempts States in Financial Need
Settlement
Funds, Tax Increases Help Make Ends Meet
30 June 2002
"This money was not intended to be expended by the state's leadership any way it wants," said Mary Soper, executive director of the Tobacco-Free Michigan Action Coalition, which is helping with the initiative. "It was intended to go towards health and health-related issues."
Read Their Lips: No Taxes/New York
MASTIC, N.Y. � Call it tax avoidance � and call it completely legal.
8 July 2002
Chief Wallace shrugged and lighted another cigarette. "If they're so bad, make them illegal," he said. "In the meantime, leave me alone."
On April 1, Washington intercepted 3,200 cartons of untaxed cigarettes being smuggled into the state. That one-day seizure represents more than $46,000 in lost cigarette taxes. Washington's Liquor Control Board, which oversees tobacco enforcement, estimates that it loses $105 million a year to cigarette-tax evasion.
Cigarettes Up to $7 a Pack With New Tax
New York - 1 July 2002
RINO Mayor Bloomberg said: "If it were totally up to me, I would raise the cigarette tax so high the revenues from it would go to zero," said the mayor, who has said he hopes that the higher taxes will persuade smokers to quit and will prevent children from becoming smokers.
The following is from Forces International :
Bloomberg must still be smoking dope if he thinks anyone buys his nonsense that hiking the cigarette tax is a public health measure. The theory that people, especially "the children", stop smoking because of price increases has been discredited for quite some time. When California raised taxes a few years ago its smoking rate supposedly went down. For reasons never explained by anti-tobacco, but obvious to even a casual observer of human nature, the smoking rates in neighboring -- and low tax -- Nevada miraculously rose at just the same time. No one will quit in New York City but many will buy out of state or off the internet.
Even the bozos running New York don't believe people will quit. They estimate the new tax will bring in $111-million in the coming fiscal year. For the next fiscal year they estimate the tax will enrich the city coffers by $116-million. If masses of people are going to quit, as the mayor pretends, why would the taxes collected continue to grow?
Tobacco
Tempts States in Financial Need
Settlement
Funds, Tax Increases Help Make Ends Meet
30 June 2002
"This money was not intended to be expended by the state's leadership any way it wants," said Mary Soper, executive director of the Tobacco-Free Michigan Action Coalition, which is helping with the initiative. "It was intended to go towards health and health-related issues."
Senate rejects tax increase on cigarettes (Michigan)
The 29-8 vote against a 25-cents per pack tobacco tax increase means Engler and lawmakers will have to scramble next week to find other ways to balance the state budget.
Federal tax on cigarettes rises 5 cents
Published
Tuesday, January 1, 2002, in the Herald-Leader
Activist says increase isn't
enough; tobacco seller says it's too much
Cigarette Taxes increased to $1.00 a pack in Maine 1 Oct 01
We know who is behind it: Coalition which falls under the Consumers For Affordable Health Care in Maine. Under their November 2000 Press Release, they stated they wanted 50 cents more on a pack of cigarettes by 2001. And they got it.
Here are letters I received from Maine Representatives about the taxes on cigarettes. I have the roll call of all the ones who voted to increase this tax. I am not pulling this out of my hat here.
Following some of the letters, (I omitted their names out of respect), I posted the letter that appeared in the Bangor Daily News on 1 Oct 01. I believe Neves, from the State Revenue Office is wrong when he says the cigarette taxes are from the "distributor." It was voted on this past spring by the Maine Government.
The
Governor means that the money will go to help programs that will
help kids quit smoking
etc. He completely lied and you should e-mail them
back
and let them know that you from legislators that none of this money
will go for any
cause to reduce smoking and it just goes to fund programs
existing programs that have
nothing to do with getting kids to stop smoking.
BE
COMPLETELY FRANK WITH HIM. Let him know that if he ever wanted to run for
a higher
position that you would never support him.
"For
the children" is a ploy to fund more social programs until we are
completely
socialized. When cigarette taxes go high enough, the visits to
the New Hampshire stores
and the black market trucks from the Carolinas will
increase. Taxing cigarettes is a
flimsy way to have an on-going base of
support. In spite of over 45 million each year
from the tobacco settlement,
the Democrats spent only a portion of it for
tobacco-related problems, the
remainder on their new and increased social programs.
Yesterday the House
Republicans had a press conference to announce our version of the
remainder
of the budget with NO NEW TAXES, yet funding all of the essential needs.
~~
Thank
you for contacting me with your concerns about the recently enacted
increase in the tax
on cigarettes.
I understand your suspicion of politicians who raise taxes. The
truth is,
however, that since 1995, the legislature has enacted tax cuts totaling over
$450
million annually.
I supported the increase on cigarette taxes for two re asons:
1)
Increasing the cost of cigarettes has proven
to be a very effecting way
of keeping young people from smoking. The data on the
likelihood of a young
smoker becoming a lifetime smoker are shocking. I'm proud to have
supported
a policy that will save the lives of some young Mainers. (Click
here for the debunk)
2)
The state was facing a budget shortfall. While it may not always appear
savory, passing
a budget -- in fact all legislation -- is a work of
compromise.
The simple truth is that in the need to increase revenue to pay
for the costs of
running state government, an increase on the cigarette tax
was the way to raise revenue
that had the broadest support. (Click
here for the debunk)
I assure
you that no monied interest played any role in my support for this
measure. It saddens
me that anyone might have this impression. If this is
something you would like to
discuss further, I would be happy to do so.
~
I will not support the increase tax on cigarettes and as you may know I hate cigarettes. It is an unfair tax, even though I do agree that it does hurt people physically and I believe that it will catch up to you later in life. But, you are a big girl and can make that choice all on your own.
We talked about this in my Republican Caucus yesterday and we feel as a group that increasing the cigarette tax is just a way for the Governor to balance his budget. I did not vote for the majority budget last year. I voted for the Republican Senate budget which was fiscally responsible and not unconstitutional as was the majority budget. Only 26 Republicans and Democrats voted against that awful budget. The Governors budget this year so far is just as bad. He increases taxed once again. His budget will just continue Maine to be in a 300 million structural gap in other. words in big time debt. The Governor just wants to tax cigarettes more to pay for programs that should be cut. I will testify at the hearing if there is one against this tax. There are 88 Democrats who believe it is fine to tax cigarettes and increase taxes. and only 61 R's who usually hate taxing people to death. The Senate is split as you may know in half and it will be interesting how it play out in the Senate. Write to Senator Paul Davis, Senator Richard Bennett and Senator Mary Small and give them your opinion.
~
I just e-mailed you about the cigarette tax. Why don't you folks write letters to the editors across the State. The libs do it we should do it to. Actually, I started up a rapid response team of people in my area of the woods. We need to get those letters out and haunt your legislators. write to King man and tell him what a bunch of crud it is and that he should learn to live within the States means, cut programs such as Start me right. That program alone cost the State of Maine up to 170 million dollars, not sure if it all got funded. In his dumb budget he proposes to take 15 million from it. It is a program this state cannot afford.
~
Yes, they know how much it costs, but Maine has too many left wingers who have been allowed to get out of hand and therefore society has allowed them to be heard and has placed too much importance on their views. They have even infiltrated the Republicans.
As we mentioned earlier in our dialogue Hitler did everything because he hated everything and had little tolerance for anything. He also controlled people by telling them it was for their own safety and good of the people. (Click to read about Hitler)
Will you help me get the message out and write letters to the different papers in the state on this issue and on other freedom issues? I am serious enough is enough don't you think?
~
I agree with you. I am appalled at this last ditch
effort to impose new
taxes, when the Governor has $30
million stashed away for laptops , and who
knows what
else. Rally your troops and let your legislators know what you
think. Don't assume that
everyone agrees with the Governor. How many
people are really prepared to raise taxes
for 30,000 laptops. Not I.
I hated that
cigarette tax and voted against it the first time. Of
course, they hold over our heads
that the government will shut down unless
we pass a budget, and the governor and most
everyone was ready to stick it
to the cigarette smokers again.
My
point is that the entire tax structure needs to be overhauled and
legislators are too
cowardly to do it. Too many special interest groups
with power yell and scream if their
pet whatever is about to be taxed.
~
Darlene, I�m not a smoker but I agree with you 100% we doubled this tax two years ago and I will not support this extreme measure. This would make the tax one dollar per pack. I think the current tax is plenty.
~
Gov.
King's insistence on raising the cigarette tax is his way of waging a
campaign against
smoking altogether. Apparently, he hates it a lot. With
the pile of money coming
in from the cigarette companies, he sees this as a
way to get on the band wagon against
smoking.
As you are well aware, Maine leads in many areas. We are one of the first
states
to have clean elections, we have taken on the big drug companies and
their outrageous
drug costs and now we are in the process of taking on the
tobacco giants. Other states
are afraid, or too lazy, to follow. This has
some good and some bad aspects.
Unfortunately, your health, and the good
health of many other smokers, pales in
comparison to those who are
suffering from tobacco related diseases. And Governor Kings
relates to this.
As a Republican, I've been admonished for even considering
instituting more
taxes on ANYTHING, let alone cigarettes. I've been told Republicans do
not
start or increase taxes. Democrats do the tax thing. Currently, the Dems
outnumber
the Reps 88 to 63 in the House of Representatives. It would
appear that the
increase in cigarette taxes will happen whether or not the
Republicans want it.
~
I
will not vote to increase cigarette taxes. You folks are paying enough in
cigarette
taxes now. But the Democrats need more funding to pay for the
social programs they have
instituted in recent years.
~
(I left Baldacci's name at the end of this email because he is running for Governor. I would like all the smokers in Maine to see his stance concerning cigarettes and smoking).
Thank
you for contacting me regarding proposals to raise the tobacco
tax. I appreciate
hearing from you. Although I appreciate your
concerns, I generally believe that raising
taxes on cigarettes to
discourage youth use of these products is good public policy.
Preventing children from smoking must be our
first goal in enacting any (click here
for debunk)
tobacco-related
legislation. I have supported efforts to limit
advertising of tobacco products and to
increase education efforts to
prevent children from smoking, as well as to raise the
costs of
purchasing tobacco products. I
have gathered a number of health
officials in the state to serve on my Tobacco Advisory
Committee , and
I
held a town meeting in Bangor on the issue. Although Congress has not
passed
legislation to further curtail the ability of tobacco companies
to sell their products
to minors, I welcome the opportunity to support
any future efforts to do so.
John
Baldacci
(Aren't
we all just a little tired of hearing "it's for the kids?!" And he has a Tobacco
Advisory Committee, so if this man is elected our Governor, the adult smokers in Maine
will be smoking behind closed doors. Is this what we really want? It's not up to Congress
to curtail youth buying cigarettes. It's up to each individual business to prevent the
youth from buying cigarettes. A business won't let the youth buy liquor, so why are
cigarettes singled out here?)
~
(This one is from Mr. I Hate Smokers himself:)
First, I
don't like raising taxes; in fact, during my six years as Governor,
we have cut taxes
by more than $450 million a year.
However, the decision to increase the excise tax
on cigarettes was made in
large part to recover some of the
$90 million that tobacco-related illnesses
cost the state-run
Medicaid program each year. (Click
on line to go to debunk) To me, this makes this as
much a
user fee as a general tax.
(Wait a
minute. Where does he get these figures? The state of Maine receives $45 million a year
from the Tobacco Settlement. $90 million? He's trying to impress me).
Since Maine last raised the cigarette excise tax three years ago,
tobacco
consumption has declined by 17% and youth smoking rates have declined by
27%.
(click on line to go to debunk). That's
a lot of lives that will saved. However, Maine still has high tobacco consumption, high
youth smoking rates and the highest-in-the-nation
young adult smoking rate. All of this
has helped to make the Medicaid budget
skyrocket.
(I just saw
an article from Las Vegas, Nevada, and they claim the very same thing. Highest Youth
Smokers. These people are starting to sound like puppets!)
Tobacco
tax rates as a percentage of the price of tobacco have declined
significantly over the
past 30 years. In the 1960s taxes comprised on
average 50% of the price of cigarettes -
now that is about 30%.
(So how come a carton of 10 premium cigarettes now cost the Maine consumer $50 dollars a carton?)
(Cessation?
Most adult smokers in Maine don't "want" to quit. But we DO want Government to
stay out of our lives and our pocketbook. Or is Gov. King working with the Big Pharms?).
This
was not an easy decision, but seemed fair, based upon the costs smoking
imposes on
everyone in Maine, which everyone - smokers and non-smokers alike
- pays through insurance premiums and general taxes. (dubunked)
(Sure
Governor. Your a caring person wanting the best for ALL the constituents in Maine! That's
why you closed the liquor stores for MORAL reasons! Gee, your head Clergy for Maine, too?
And if smoking costs Maine big money for health care, what about alcoholics and what about
the obese? I have seen a lot of your non-smoking representatives in the State House. They
are grossly over weight. How much are "they" costing us for health care?)
While
I understand that smoking is a difficult addiction to overcome, and
that taxes are not
the most popular subject in a budget year, my final
conclusion was that this increase
will partially offset the growing cost of
Medicaid and help to reduce tobacco use in
Maine. (I'm sorry, but he's full of hot air).
(Like I
said, there are still a lot of adult smokers who do not want to stop smoking. It's
something we enjoy, it's legal, and it's not the big taboo you would like us to believe).
Gov. King
~
We have
talked before about the cigarette tax. First of all, it was not
included in the Part
One budget. The Part One budget has been passed without
a tax increase. I did not see
the news this evening, but I believe what the
Governor is referring to is that if
people want all the legislation that is
in appropriations there will have to be a tax
increase.
Let's think about this for a minute. What else can be taxed besides,
food,
cigarettes, and liquor? I say raise the sales tax to 6% and broaden the
sales
tax base. The Part Two budget is in trouble as everyone wants their
legislation passed.
Some of this legislation has a hefty fiscal note. The
budget has a gap of $180,000,000.
They want us to approve another
$56,000,000 to pay for legislation. This conservative
Democrat cannot do
this. And I will not do it. I will not inflict a tax increase on the
people
of Maine. If the money isn't there, then the legislation will have to wait
until
the 120th legislation and maybe the money situation will be better. If
the Governor
feels that is the place to get money, from raising taxes on
cigarettes and food, then
all well in good. You must remember 151
Representatives do not agree with him and I am
only one.
~
In case you did not know, LD1303 also increased the cigarette tax to fund cancer prescription drugs for people at 300% below poverty level.
~
Thank you
for your email note. I have promised everyone in my district that
I will never vote to
increase taxes, even on cigarettes. We will be
working very hard to keep this tax from
getting passed. However, it is
pretty much in the hands of
the Democrats who apparently are in favor of the
increase. The
snack tax was not repealed last session. Several of us
Republicans will again bring
this up again and with the Senates help we will
probably have the votes to final repeal
this "temporary" tax. Be sure to
continue letting your local State Rep and
Senator know of your concerns.
Hope you have a good weekend.
~
Please note
that only Gov. King and all the Democrats want to raise
taxes, not the Republicans or
me.
~
Thank you for your message. In general, I agree with the points that you have raised. Governor King has proposed a budget and we are in the very early stages of understanding what has taken him over five months to construct. Initially though, my reaction is that I would have preferred that the Governor look to limit/reduce new spending as opposed to raising ANY new taxes. Maine's overall tax structure is not conducive to minor "tinkering" such as reducing the sales tax in one session, while dropping the "snack tax", and then raising the cigarette tax in the next. Our sales tax base is too unstable for that and our income tax laws are too antiquated without progressive reforms to support such seemingly simple changes.
~
I certainly understand how you feel as I enjoyed smoking also. I feel that through pricing, you are paying off the settlement plus now you have the burden of increased taxation. (Amen)
~
I sense your anger and frustration. I certainly intend to tell my colleagues how you and many other Maine smokers feel. You are not the only one to e-mail me on this subject. You are not only paying Maine tax but you are also paying off the tobacco settlement.
~
I
certainly would like to reduce smoking, but I think the Gov. should have
given up his
laptop proposal ($30 million) rather than raise taxes. Period.
~
Darlene, I
couldn't agree with you more. We can supply all of the essential
services WITHOUT any
tax increase, which is the House Republican position.
I'm sorry the governor has fallen
in with the tax-and-spend Democrats.
~
1 October 2001
Bangor Daily News
The Associated Press
AUGUSTA-All Mainers who buy cigarettes and many who eat out face higher taxes, beginning Monday.
Effective Oct. 1, the Maine excise tax on cigarettes increases from 74 cents to $1 dollar per pack of 20 cigarettes.
Also going into effect is a sales tax increase from 5 percent to 7 percent on all food prepared by a retailer.
The 7 percent rate previously applied only to establishments that were licensed to serve alcoholic beverages on premises.
Prepared food is subject to tax whether sold for consumption on premises or for takeout. Bulk sales of grocery staples are exempt.
Ask if state tax officials anticipated transition problems, Tony Neves, who heads the state taxation department know as Maine Revenue Services, said Friday, "Not on any large scale."
The cigarette excise tax is imposed at the distributor level. Retailers will be affected by the cost of cigarettes purchased on or after Oct. 1 and by a requirement to report directly to the state all cigarettes in inventory at that time and remit the additional tax on their inventory.
"That�s very straightforward," Neves said.
More complicated is the so-called meals tax hike, which actually applies to all food that any retailer prepares.
A Maine Revenue Services advisory says the increase will affect "all forms of prepared food, from coffee or a steamed hot dog sold by a convenience store to a meal sold by a fast-food chain."
Tax officials note that the prepared food tax hike will impose multiple rates of tax in many retail establishments.
"For instance, a convenience store selling prepared food will be faced with collecting 7 percent tax on food that they have prepared such as coffee or steamed hot dogs, and 5 percent on taxable items such as soda, beer and candy." The tax department advisory says.
Neves said state tax officials consulted with grocers and other businesses in developing advisories about the tax changes and have disseminated information widely.
"I think the industry has made an effort, as we have, to prepare themselves for this," he said.