Tobacco tax hike would fund health programs

Utah's current 70-cents-per-pack cigarette tax should be increased by more than 70 percent, with the $25 million or so increase in funds going to various health-improvement programs, including cancer screening and smoking cessation programs, a Utah legislator says.

Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, introduced a bill Wednesday that would hike the current 69.5-cent-per-20-cigarette pack by an additional 50 cents. That's a 72 percent increase and would raise an extra $25 million to $29 million annually.

"A tax increase is never popular, and viewed as unnecessary in a revenue surplus year and impossible to get passed in an election year," Ray said. "This is a public health issue that will go on no matter the revenue picture or the political season."

Two facts are dictating the timing, he said: The higher the price of a pack of cigarettes, the more smokers choose to quit; the state ends up dealing with the effects of smoking down the road anyway through increased health problems of people who don't stop smoking.

"So it's a sooner-the-better situation," Ray said, adding that he doesn't have a read on whether his fellow lawmakers view it that way.

"But when I do start talking to them, I'll be able to add the results of a poll coming out next week from the state Department of Health showing that 81 percent of Utahns surveyed would favor it," he said. He said he didn't know how many smokers were included in the survey.

Ray has other support, including the local Campaign for Tobacco Free-Kids, which in December called for an increase in the state tobacco tax to help keep kids from starting to smoke.

"The Huntsman Cancer Center will also come out strongly in favor of my bill," Ray said Wednesday.

The state's tobacco tax has not been increased since 2002, when it went from 49.5 cents per pack to 69.5 cents. Still, Ray said he knows HB355 will be a hard sell. For even with an anti-smoking bias in the state, Ray's tobacco tax hike faces stiff opposition.

Lisa Roskelley, spokeswoman for Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr., said the governor didn't put any tax cuts or tax hikes in his 2008-2009 recommended budget. "So we are not for this or any other tax increase this year," she said.

House Speaker Greg Curtis, R-Sandy, said that while he understands the reasons behinds Ray's bill, "I'm not personally inclined to increase any taxes this year" — as the state once again faces hundreds of millions of dollars in one-time and ongoing tax surpluses. House Republicans have already called for a $100 million tax cut this session.