Jackson Free Press

The House sent a veto-proof cigarette tax bill to the Senate Thursday, along with the message that one side of the Mississippi Legislature is standing behind the tax, even if former tobacco lobbyist Gov. Haley Barbour and his Senate allies have no intention of letting the bill come up for a vote.

House Bill 247, which cuts the state's grocery tax in half and raises the state's tobacco tax to $1 per pack, passed the House with a 91-27 vote, even while the Senate's own cigarette tax bill languishes under the care of Senate Finance Chairman Tommy Robertson.

Robertson told a crowd at a recent John C. Stennis Institute of Government press luncheon that he was not sure if he wanted to let the Senate's tobacco bill out of his committee. He explained that it was an election year and that a vote on the bill could put some senators at a disadvantage if they vote their desires.

Advocates like American Cancer Society lobbyists Kimberly Hughes say Robertson is right if he's referring to senators who plan to vote against the tax, because the tax is popular with voters. "Polls have shown that the majority of Mississippians favor a cigarette tax, especially when only 25 percent of the population smokes. And a lot of smokers approve an increase in the cigarette tax, because most smokers don't want their children or grandchildren to smoke," Hughes said.

Rep. Chester Masterson, R-Vicksburg, said that pressure from voters has already changed his mind. Masterson is a doctor who has always stood against raising the tax on cigarettes. Masterson did a turn around this year, however, voting with a majority of representatives to approve the bill. "I, in the past years, have voted against the cigarette tax, but my constituents are way over 80 percent asking me to vote for it, so with my constituents encouragement, I voted for it," Masterson said.

Rep. Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg, said his Ways and Means Committee submitted the House version Thursday night because of the obvious inaction in the Senate. "We were hoping and expecting the Senate would take the lead on this issue, but it appears they are not, so we have to bring this before you at this time," Watson said.

Some representatives, like Rep. Mike Lott, R-Petal, said he was concerned about a potential shortfall to small municipalities, who rely more heavily on sales tax to finance local government. "I represent a small city, and they're concerned that since no one can tell them how much money I spend on groceries out of sales tax receipts, they're very much concerned about a shortfall here," Lott said. "Do we guarantee in this legislation that if something happens, that if the (money is not recouped from a tobacco tax increase) that the money will be repaid through another source?"

Lott's argument echoes a concern voiced last year by the Municipal League of Cities regarding potential revenue losses. Since then, however, Jackson Municipal League member Ben Allen, has come out in support of a tobacco tax increase, so long as the bill outlines revenue replacement.

A Stennis Institute of Government policy report, "Tobacco and Food Taxation Policy Options in Mississippi," argues that SB 3098, in its current form, not only is revenue neutral but "tax neutral with a cushion."

The bill this year replaces town revenue lost to grocery sales tax with the new taxes generated from more expensive cigarettes. The report says that money going to Lott's own town of Petal, for instance, will increase by about $30,000 under this year's cigarette tax bill.