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* I thought I had a scoop this morning about the cigarette tax proposal, but the Tribune also got the story…
- The state’s cigarette tax would increase by 75 cents under a measure Senate Democrats are pushing as Gov. Rod Blagojevich and the General Assembly struggle to find a way out of the overtime standoff that enters a record 55th day on Wednesday.
The proposed cigarette-tax hike represented the latest move in an elusive search for new revenue that could grease a budget deal, but it would not be enough on its own to satisfy some demands for spending.
A 75-cent-a-pack increase on cigarettes would place Illinois among the highest in the nation for state tobacco taxes. The move comes on the heels of the success of the anti-smoking advocates who this week saw their longtime push to have a smoking ban in Illinois signed into law.
Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago), sponsor of the measure going before the Senate Revenue Committee on Wednesday, said the tax would produce about $304 million a year but provide benefits far beyond dollars.
The Senate Democrats as a caucus are not “pushing” the tax hike yet, as subscribers know. But we could see a vote on this bill in today’s Senate Revenue Committee.
* Speaker Madigan said last weekend on WBBM Radio’s “At Issue” program that he could support a cigarette tax hike to fund healthcare expansions, so the idea is definitely alive and well.
* More from the Trib story…
House Majority Leader Barbara Flynn Currie (D-Chicago) said a cigarette tax increase would find a receptive audience in the House because some lawmakers already are talking about raising cigarette or liquor taxes as a source for more money.
That liquor tax idea has been floating around for several days. When the Legislture is looking for more money in an overtime session, nobody is safe from higher taxation.
posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 9:40 am
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So…we won’t let people smoke in “public” places, and cigarette sales are likely to decrease, so we tax them more, so those who live in the borders cross the state line to buy their smokes, so we the new tax is a wash?
I am confoozled.
Comment by Fan of the Game Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 9:53 am
Tax,tax,tax. Such an easy solution. Spend and spend then simply tax and tax. Why not?
Comment by BBpolNut Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 9:54 am
When the latest cigarette taxes kill the golden goose our legislators will put beer, wine, and liquor in their crosshairs. Have they found a way to tax home brewing? If not I may take up a new hobby.
Comment by Independent Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 9:57 am
Why not tax politicians who put themselves,their relatives, campaign workers, and the interests of their party before the people they represent. The state would then have a fat surplus of cash.
Comment by Better Idea Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 10:02 am
Better Idea- That makes more sense than anything I’ve heard lately. While we’re at it the next “emergency” budget should leave off the salaries of all State elected officials. Imagine how fast things would get done then.
Comment by BBpolNut Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 10:07 am
I am not oppsed to a cigs tax since I dont smoke but I will bet 10-1 that it brings in a lot less revenue then whatever there predictions are. People will quit(a good thing) or get there cigs out of state avoiding Ill tax and probably buy gas and other goods out of state(a bad thing). Cook Co. cigs tax is bringing in less than 2/3rds what it was budgeted for and guess what stroger wants to raise property taxes to make up the differance. The legeslature will use inflated tax projections to say they can pay for new programs with a cigs tax and then next year we will have a record deficit because cigs taxs wont meet expectations and need more new taxes.
Comment by FED UP Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 10:17 am
Where’s Pat (Tea Bags) Quinn in all this? Every day you read the paper or turn on the TV news the last 6 months the democrats are raises taxes. If the republicans were doing this Quinn would have been all over this.
Comment by Taxman Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 10:19 am
I could support an increase in the liquor tax. It’s a luxury for me to buy a bottle of wine, so if the luxury cost goes up a bit I won’t mind. My bar stock is pretty full and it takes me a while to go through a bottle of the hard stuff anyway so when I replenish, again, I’m not gonna feel it that badly.
Folks drink booze in bars all the time and the markup on that is outrageous, so I don’t think a few more pennies going to the state is gonna faze them.
Comment by cermak_rd Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 1:15 pm
$304,000,000 / $.75 = 405,333,333 packs of cigs per year? Is this accurate? does anyone have access to this info? I’m just curious.
Comment by Capitalist Pig Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 2:07 pm
If the liquor tax passes it will be passed on to the consumer in the form of higher Capitol Fax prices.
Comment by Bill Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 3:53 pm
Unlike the GRT, I’ll probably absorb that tax hike.
Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Jul 25, 07 @ 3:57 pm
You think the cigarette tax is bad? You should see what it will do to the cigar industry. Cigars contain more tobacco, so they are taxed more. The tax rate will go from 20.719% to 53.13% on cigars, with a cap of $10 tax per cigar. That means the $7 cigar we are enjoying today will cost around $12 or more after the tax.
Also consider the floor tax for the current inventory that stores have. A mere $100,000 in inventory will cost apx $32,000 in taxes for items you have in stock and have not sold yet. Point being, you will see many cigar shops close because not many have that kind of money to toss into the wind.
This is typical, as our fine politicians vote to ban smoking. Then they find out that smokers pay a large portion of their wages and government welfare programs. So they in turn have to raise taxes to keep the budget because they made people quit smoking as much.
Nobody in their right mind would ever accept the sales tax in their state doubling. However us smokers are expected to accept it on our tobacco products.
If they can tax us for buying a gas guzzling SUV, why not tax the fast foods and junk we ALL eat which causes everyone more health problems? Instead they key upon the lesser percentage of people, smokers, to foot the bill for everyone else.
Send a letter and fight back!
http://rtda.org/legislation.html
Comment by ET Friday, Jul 27, 07 @ 10:19 pm