Deborah P. Brown, American Lung Association — It’s time for Pennsylvania to tax cigars
Pennsylvanians got a raw deal last week when Cigars International showed off its new $10 million distribution center in Bethlehem.
Cigars International, on the other hand, got a great deal.
Last year, state legislators passed a new tax of 25 cents on each pack of cigarettes but killed a proposed cigar tax.
The cigar tax died largely because of the admitted work of Sen. Pat Browne, R-Lehigh, and more than $500,000 of lobbying by the tobacco industry. Of that lobbying money, $32,000 came to Harrisburg from Cigars International.
Today, that $32,000 investment is paying off handsomely in a tax break for Cigars International while costing Pennsylvanians millions of dollars in lost tax revenues and increased tobacco-related health care costs.
If the cigar tax had passed, every cigar sold in Pennsylvania would have been subject to an additional $1.60 tax. Because Pennsylvania hosts four of the nation’s eight cigar sellers, that tax would have generated millions of dollars in badly needed revenue for Pennsylvania.
But Sen. Browne and his colleagues apparently think the state doesn’t need that money. Or perhaps the senator and his colleagues are OK with providing a nice return on Cigar International’s $32,000 investment in pushing for no taxes.
So what is Pennsylvania getting in exchange from Cigars International? Cigars International is adding a whopping 50 new jobs to a state with more than a half-million unemployed people.
So instead of tax revenue, Pennsylvania is reinforcing its national reputation as a tax haven for cigar companies that already cost taxpayers millions in tobacco-related health care costs.
Products from tobacco companies like Cigars International cause emphysema, asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, cancer and other serious diseases, all of which drive health care expenses up and productivity down. Pennsylvania alone spends $5.1 billion annually on health care costs linked to tobacco-related diseases.
Pennsylvania already taxes cigarettes, and cigars can be even more deadly. Not only are most cigars unfiltered, but a single cigar can contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes and take up to two hours to smoke.
Gov. Ed Rendell is scheduled to release his new budget proposal on Tuesday, and he’s expected to include a cigar tax again. This is our chance to start recouping some of the tax dollars Pennsylvania spends on health care and other tobacco-related expenses caused by Cigars International and other cigar merchants.
Call your legislators today. Tell them to quit kowtowing to big tobacco and pass a cigar tax.
And, even if he’s not your legislator, call Sen. Pat Browne too.
Mcall
February 5, 2010
