Senate overrides veto, raises cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack
{"Image DocumentName": "Senate overrides veto, raises cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack", "Image ImageDescription": "May 13, COLUMBIA -- South Carolina lawmakers have overridden Gov. Mark Sanford\u2019s veto and raised what was the nation s lowest cigarette tax by 50 cents a pack. Today\u2019s vote by the Senate raises the 7 cent tax to 57 cents a pack on July 1 and leaves Missouri with the nation s lowest tax at 17 cents. The vote in the Senate followed a vote in the House on Wednesday after the Republican Sanford had said he wouldn t allow a tax increase on cigarettes unless it was offset by some other tax decrease. The measure raises nearly  125 million to cover the loss of federal bailout cash next year in Medicaid programs for the elderly, disabled and poor. It also is expected to generate  5 million each for cancer research and efforts to curb smoking and  1 million for agriculture marketing. The years-long tug-of-war over raising the state s 7-cent cigarette tax for the first time in more than 30 years came down to a final vote in the Senate. Joe Dabit (left) sells cigarettes to Eric Chamness and William Haden on Wednesday at Charlie s Grocery on the corner of Jasper and Radcliffe streets In Charleston. The Senate today voted to override Gov. Mark Sanford s veto of the cigarette tax increase. The House voted to override the veto Wednesday over the objections of lawmakers from counties along the North Carolina and Georgia borders who argued that the higher tax rate would hurt the competitiveness of convenience stores. The state tax in North Carolina is 45 cents. It is 37 cents in Georgia. South Carolina s cigarette tax had not been increased since The national average state tax is  1.41 a pack. The federal tax last year jumped 62 cents a pack to  1.01. Raising the cigarette tax to 57 cents a pack puts us at an economic disadvantage, Rep. Gary Simrill, R-Rock Hill, said Wednesday. But other legislators, including Reps. Joe Jefferson of Pineville and Anne Peterson Hutto of Charleston, both Democrats, listed several benefits: A higher tax could deter teens from starting to smoke and prompt others to quit, saving them from future heart attacks and cancer and saving the state money in medical bills for lower-income residents. The tax increase is projected to raise  136 million, which would sit in a savings account until July At that time,  125 million would go to pay Medicaid costs,  5 million to the Hollings Cancer Center at the Medical University of South Carolina and  5 million toward helping people quit smoking and also keep them from starting. If there was money left,  1 million would be used to market South Carolina-grown crops. The state could use the money for Medicaid to draw down a 3-to-1 match from the federal government, bringing in a total of  375 million. Polls have shown that a majority of registered South Carolina voters favor a cigarette tax increase, according to the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative. The group is made up of public health organizations across the state that have fought to increase the tax since Research by Frank Chaloupka, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, developed in conjunction with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative, found that money from a cigarette tax is predictable, steady and reliable. The cash flow will lessen over the years as people break the habit but, according to Chaloupka, the decline is modest, predictable and more than offset by the related reductions in public- and private-sector health care and other economic costs caused by smoking. Polls have shown that a majority of registered South Carolina voters favor a cigarette tax increase, according to the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative. Research by Frank Chaloupka, an economics professor at the University of Illinois, developed in conjunction with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative, found that money from a cigarette tax is predictable, steady and reliable. The cash flow will lessen over the years as people break the habit but, according to Chaloupka, the decline is modest, predictable and more than offset by the related reductions in public- and private-sector health care and other economic costs caused by smoking.", "Image XResolution": "37", "Image YResolution": "37", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Centimeter", "Image Software": "SlidePlayer", "Image YCbCrPositioning": "Centered"}