Dig Deeper Texas

MySA.com: Politics

AUSTIN — Texas smokers will pay significantly more for cigarettes starting Jan. 1 when the state’s excise tax goes up by $1 a pack.

It’s a move that health experts hope will discourage folks — especially teens — from lighting up.

The tax increase from 41 cents to $1.41 per pack was designed to help pay for school property tax cuts.

Some smokers think lawmakers went too far, while the convenience store industry worries the price increase will fuel the cigarette black market and cut into legitimate sales of tobacco products.

Well, ain’t that pretty. $1 a pack increase to pay for that school tax cut the Rick Perry touted during re-election and Carol Keeton Strayhorn talked about so much. Personally, I saw no tax cut at all from last year to this one, not even the $3.82 that Strayhorn talked about. This will tax average smokers $514.64 a year and double or more for heavy smokers. You would think with a record budget surplus that we wouldn’t need this. There is even talk of a tax rebate program in the works.

You say well, Texas pays out nearly $1.5 billion a year treating tobacco-related illnesses and I say first bull (because what they define as tobacco-related is way too broad ), second, the collected tax isn’t going to cover smoking related medical expenses so that is moot, and then there is the $15.3 billion that the state of Texas won against the tobacco companies. I ask what other industry has given us $15.3 billion to cover those costs? Have the beer companies paid texas for all the dwi related medical bills? So, these are pretty moot points.

You say, but it will stop kids from smoking. Yeah , right, those are the same kids who are wearing sneakers that cost more than $100 and think nothing of dropping $5 on a latte at starbucks. The extra dollar won’t stop kids from starting, they have no concept of money and really don’t care to, but it does place a higher tax burden on only one group of people.

It will start January 1st and there will be little fanfair about it because the government is allowed to step on the NOT ME’s so no one will care. I just thought I would put my one little voice out there to say this is a bad precedent and put forth at a time that the money isn’t needed. Just for good measure I am going to throw out there that we fought the revolution because of unfair taxation. Too bad we won’t be seeing another boston tea party because, of course, it is politically correct to hate smokers right now.
Technorati Tags: texas, excise tax, cigarettes, smoking, tobacco,

Filed under: Carole Keeton Strayhorn, excise tax, smoking, texas, texas politics, tobacco