Assembly Approves Cigarette Tax Hike to Fight Breast Cancer : Government: The 2-cent-a-pack increase would raise $38 million a year for research, detection and education about the disease. The bill goes to the Senate.

On a close vote, the Assembly on Monday approved a controversial bill to increase the state cigarette tax by 2 cents per pack to raise $38 million annually to finance breast cancer research, early detection and education.

After more than an hour of often emotional debate, the lower house voted 54 to 25, the exact two-thirds margin required to send the measure, sponsored by Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman (D-North Hollywood), to an uncertain fate in the Senate.

“Breast cancer is not just a personal tragedy,” Friedman said, “it’s a public health disaster. We still know so little about breast cancer. We don’t know what causes it or how to prevent it.”

One in eight women now can expect to get breast cancer, compared to only one in 20 women in 1960, she said, citing National Cancer Institute statistics.

“Isn’t the life of a woman worth 2 cents on a pack of cigarettes?” asked Assemblywoman Marguerite Archie-Hudson (D-Los Angeles).

As Friedman presented her bill, a small group of women who have had breast cancer watched the proceedings from the Assembly gallery, applauding when the bill passed.

Assembly Republicans agreed that more breast cancer research was a worthwhile goal, but most objected to increasing the cigarette tax to pay for it. The GOP lost four sets of amendments to obtain the funds from existing sources.

“Very little has been done on research of this particular problem,” said Assemblyman Gil Ferguson (R-Newport Beach), “but the public is sick and tired of us adding taxes upon taxes upon taxes.”

Assemblywoman Doris Allen (R-Cypress), who has had breast cancer, provided a key vote change on the bill. Allen first voted no, then switched to yes after obtaining approval of a motion asking that the money come out of the state budget instead of a new tax.

But Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco), noting the state’s multibillion-dollar budget shortfall, said: “Any additional burden on the general fund, no matter how noble, will exacerbate the problem.”

Assemblyman Johan Klehs (D-San Leandro) called the proposed cigarette tax increase “a very small price to be paid for the lives that will be saved.”

Forty-eight Democrats and six Republicans voted yes on Friedman’s measure; 25 Republicans voted no.

Forty-five percent of the $38 million that the cigarette tax increase would raise is earmarked for research into the cause, cure and prevention of breast cancer. Another 45% would finance screenings, mammograms, biopsies and diagnostic services for uninsured women. The remaining 10% would be used for early-detection programs.