Lawmakers look again at cigarette tax
By ROGER ALFORD
Associated Press Writer
FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) - With the election behind them, Kentucky lawmakers have begun focusing on an upcoming legislative session that is likely to be overshadowed by a bleak financial outlook.
Economic problems have worsened in Kentucky, prompting a revised financial forecast that shows the state could lose more than $1.2 billion in revenues over the next two years.
The financial woes, which raise the likelihood of additional cuts in government services, is likely to increase pressure on lawmakers to reconsider raising the state's tax on cigarettes, said Democratic state Rep. David Watkins, a family physician in Henderson.
Watkins said he will propose increasing the cigarette tax to $1 a pack, which could generate some $200 million a year and reduce the number of smokers by making tobacco products less affordable. A similar proposal in the last legislative session failed.
“I plan to be vocal about it,” Watkins said Friday. “We lead the nation in the use of tobacco products, and we need to change that. I have literally hundreds of people tell me they wish they had never started smoking.”
For complete story, see today's Ledger & Times
Story created Nov 17, 2008 - 13:07:26 EST.
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