Kennedy Seeks to Triple Tobacco Tax
In a shift, the Clinton administration threw its weight Thursday night behind a proposal by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to almost triple cigarette taxes.
Tax legislation being debated by the Senate would raise the current 24-cents-a-pack tax to 46 cents. Kennedy wants to raise it by still another 23 cents to a total of 69 cents a pack.
The money would be used to extend coverage to an additional 4.5 million children under a proposed program of health insurance to uninsured youngsters.
Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala wrote Kennedy that the administration was supporting the proposal because the Senate Finance Committee had approved a smaller hike “and because the president has long supported using tobacco revenue to fund important programs for children.”
Kennedy said he would seek a vote today.
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