2 Proposals Would Boost State’s Tax on Cigarettes

Two drives to increase California’s cigarette tax--which has remained at 10 cents a package since 1967--were launched on Monday.

At a Capitol news conference, Assemblyman Lloyd G. Connelly (D-Sacramento) and a coalition of health groups formally announced a campaign to place a constitutional amendment on the June, 1988, ballot to more than triple the state’s tax on a pack of cigarettes to 35 cents--the highest in the nation.

Connelly’s increase would raise an estimated $600 million a year, most of which would go to expand medical research, treatment of tobacco-related illnesses and education programs about what Connelly called “the evils of smoking.”

Meanwhile, Sen. Art Torres (D-Los Angeles) introduced his own proposal on Monday to boost the tax to 25 cents. Torres’ bill, sponsored by the California Assn. of Catholic Hospitals, would raise about $400 million for hospitals that care for the poor and uninsured .

Connelly’s proposal would need approval from two-thirds of the Legislature and a majority of the state’s voters. Torres’ plan would need to pass each legislative house by a two-thirds majority.

California’s cigarette tax is among the lowest in the nation. In contrast, Washington state last year imposed a cigarette tax of 31 cents a pack, making it the highest in the nation, according to that state’s Department of Revenue.

Attempts to raise California’s cigarette tax have become an almost annual ritual, but all have failed in the face of objections from the tobacco industry.

There was quick opposition Monday. Jack Kelly, regional vice president of the Tobacco Institute, said, “It’s not fair or equitable” for smokers to be singled out.

Donna Lipper, Gov. George Deukmejian’s assistant press secretary, said proposals to raise the cigarette tax “would be considered a general tax increase, and the Administration has been opposed to a general tax increase.”

Political Climate

Supporters of the tax hike say the political climate has changed, citing mounting concern about tobacco-related illnesses and increasing pressure to find new sources of revenue to pay for state-sponsored health programs.

They point to a study by the Congressional Office of Technology Assessment showing that smoking costs the public $2.17 a pack when such factors as medical care, sick time and lost productivity are taken into account.

Among those joining Connelly at his news conference was Dr. Fred Armstrong, president-elect of the California Medical Assn., who hailed the legislation as “a very important step” toward achieving his group’s goal of a “tobacco-free society by the year 2000.”