Sen. Winters opposed to tax hike on cigarettes
By HAWKINS TEAGUE
Staff Writer
State Sen. Ken Winters told the Ledger & Times that he would not be in favor of raising the cigarette tax while the economy is in a downturn.
“I feel that increasing taxes on anyone for anything with the economy like it is now should be discouraged,” he said when reached at his home this morning.
The (Louisville) Courier-Journal reported Sunday that while Senate President David Williams, R-Burkesville, had recently dismissed the possibility of a cigarette tax increase, there was substantial support in the Senate for an increase to offset a budget shortfall that Gov. Steve Beshear has said could be as high as $300 million and that some outside speculators say could be even higher.
The newspaper surveyed 37 senators and found that 20 of them said they would either vote for an increase, would consider it or would not rule it out. Winters, R-Murray, indicated that he would probably not vote for an increase.
Although increased cigarette taxes might help prevent some from smoking in the first place, he did not think it would cause heavy smokers to quit. Winters added that if lawmakers wanted to push for a cigarette tax, they should wait until the economy has a chance to get better.
For complete story, see today's Ledger & Times
Story created Nov 18, 2008 - 14:04:41 EST.
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