Low-Tax Missouri Can Lift Itself from Bottom of the Pack
September 23, 2011
Missouri’s meager, 17-cents-per-pack cigarette tax — the lowest in the nation — could be raised by 80 cents, reducing smoking and generating $300 million to help fund public education, state universities and programs to help smokers quit and keep kids from starting.
It’s truly a win-win for the state.
The American Cancer Society and a coalition of medical, public health and education groups have filed papers to get a tobacco-tax referendum on the 2012 ballot, giving voters a chance to raise revenue for education and save lives and health care costs at the same time. The measure would also close a loophole that has allowed makers of off-brand cigarettes to flood Missouri with cheap cigarettes. The discount companies are able to keep prices low because they aren’t required to make payments under the 1998 settlement of state lawsuits against the tobacco industry.
The results of Missouri’s low cigarette tax and friendly climate for discounters is clear: A smoking rate that’s higher than the national average; 9,500 deaths from smoking each year and smoking-related health care costs of $2.13 billion annually that burden taxpayers, businesses and employees.
A St. Louis Post-Dispatch editorial sums up the argument for the tobacco-tax referendum: 'Here’s what we know a tobacco tax increase would do, based on evidence from other states: It would decrease smoking. It would increase revenue. And it would improve the state’s overall health.'
Says the Dispatch: 'What’s not to like?'
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