December 11,  2001
BROOKLYN SKYLINE

TAXING SMOKERS BUTTS OFF
 


By Dan McLean

Speculation that Governor George Pataki is considering raising taxes 35 percent on cigarettes, just two years after they were raised to $1.11, is generating opposition from a local smokers group.

The slowing economy and new strains on state budget because of the September 11 attacks could force a $9-billion shortage over the next two years.  One of the ideas floating around Albany last week to address the budget woes was increasing the cigarette tax 39 cents to $1.50 per pack to help close the budget gap.

Local smoking groups called the possibility of new taxes "completely unfair."  Audrey Silk, president of the Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment (CLASH), was incensed by the possibility of new taxes and said it was nothing more than "attacking an unpopular minority group."

"I just got off the phone with Pataki's office," Silk said.  "We're on top of it.  They seem to think that smokers have been so downtrodden they won't speak up, they think 'let's tax them again to the benefit of everyone,'" she said.

Although the Brooklyn-based CLASH has just 40 members across the state, Silk said the group's web site receives 1,100 hits a day.

State Senator Carl Kruger (D-Sheepshead Bay) understands that the tax would discriminate against a certain section of the population, but the fact is that taxing cigarettes raises money quickly.

"If there will be a tax increase because of the critical nature of the budget, [taxing cigarettes] would be one of the first things that would be looked at," he said.

Although Kruger said increasing the tax "is nothing that will happen in the near future," when the revenue figures are looked at next January it might become more of a reality.

The problem with raising taxes of any kind, Kruger said, is that it acts against stimulating the economy.

Pataki backed a 55-cent increase to help pay for health care plans in 1999.  That increase brought New York's tax per pack to highest in the country at $1.11 per pack.  Washington state just approved an increase in the smoking tax which would bring them to $1.42 per pack, taking away New York's title as being the toughest taxers on smokers.

If a new tobacco tax goes into effect, Silk insists that local corner stores will be the ones really hurt.

"A new tax is going to turn more people to Indian casinos, out of state retailers and smuggling," she said.

Although the governor's flirtation with a cigarette tax is well-known, nothing official has been presented to the legislature for consideration.

"We've heard different things, but we haven't seen anything from the governor yet," said Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay).

Assembly leaders are not opposed to a cigarette tax, he said, but are looking for "more of a package" to address the problems, instead of one-shot solution.



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