Two Bucks More A Pack
Sacramento, CA – California voters could soon decide on whether to add a $2 tax hike on cigarettes.
In the first year, the per-pack tax would bring in around $1.1 billion. However, after that revenues would decrease slightly each year after. The money would pay for health care programs and services, hence, the endorsement by the California Medical Association, the American Lung Association and the Service Employees International Union.
Upping the taxes on cigarettes has not fared to well in the past decade as California voters rejected two other initiatives. This latest tax hike faces heavy opposition from tobacco companies. The proponents for the measure, Laphonza Butler, Kimberly Amazeen and Dustin Corcoran, have 180 days to collect the 365,880 registered voters’ signatures to get on the November 2016 ballot.
Currently, Californians pay an extra .87 cents a pack in taxes on a pack of cigarettes, which is the 15th lowest in the nation.
