Cigarettes Will Cost More in Kansas

Kansas Leaders Suggest a Tax Raise in 2010

In Kansas, there will be taken important actions regarding a tax raise for the cigarettes. Mark Parkinson, who is a Democratic governor, will make this proposal next year. But his plan has a very strong opposition from the Republican-controlled Legislature, even though the Senate’s top leader affirmed that he could support the idea. This problem could have a national average.

In Kansas the tax for a pack of cigarettes is 79 cents. According to the Washington-based group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in Columbia, the national average is $1.34 a pack. Mark Parkinson is still looking for more options to accomplish his proposal about raising a tobacco tax.

Martino is Parkinson’s spokeswoman and she said that the governor hasn’t decided yet what will happen with the new income. Whether to give them to health programs or to use them in order to help the state balance for fiscal year 2011, which will begin on the 1st of July.

The same state also fixed a 10 percent tax on other tobacco products. Legislative researchers think that if there will be a cigarette tax increasing by 55 cents, to $1.34 a pack, then it would be raised about $88 million during the next fiscal year.

Parkinson said that the state had five rounds of adjustments and cuts to keep a balanced budget for the current years. But another important person, Senate President Steve Morris said that a cigarette tax increase would have the best opportunity to raise tax rates. Morris affirmed that he would support the proposal because it is the only tax increase that has a chance to get through the Legislature.

But House conservatives are worried about these measures, because they may have bad consequences on the state’s economic recovery. Richard Carlson is the House Taxation Committee Chairman and he said that states usually raise taxes at the end of recession just to see revenues boom after recovery.

Carlson also stated that he will be very attentive about looking at tax increases. He thinks that Kansas will grow out of this recession. Everything just has to be done for a long period of time.

The persons that merchandise tobacco products are worried about loosing their business in the favor of other states. In Colorado and Oklahoma there are higher cigarette taxes, in Nebraska they are lower but in Missouri’ the tax is 17 cents a pack, is the second-lowest in the nation.

The Layers from public health have the opinion that it is better the money that will come from tobacco taxes to be used for health programs.

But the history says that in 2002, when legislators came with the same idea, to increase cigarette taxes from 24 cents, they did it to help the budget shortfall. But in 2004 Gov. Kathleen Sebelius proposed a plan to raise cigarette taxes for health care, but the legislators haven’t take it in consideration and it was ignored for several years.