Clear the Air

On Tuesday, June 10th, The Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids released the findings of a public opinion poll showing the broad support by West Virginia voters for increasing the tobacco tax by $1.00.

Here is video from the press conference featuring Hersha Arnold-Brown of the American Cancer Society, Chuck Hamsher of the American Heart Association, Pete Fisher from the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids and Nathan Henry from the Mellman Group who conducted the poll.

For more information, including details of this poll, visit the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free West Virginia website.

Chuck Hamsher, CTFWV spokesperson and Government Relations Director for the American Heart Association, discussed raising West Virginia’s tobacco tax with former-Senator Bobbie Nelson on WRVC Radio in Huntington on Wednesday.

Listen to this via podcast by clicking here.

A new poll released today shows that 63 percent of West Virginia voters support raising the tobacco tax by $1 per pack to help address budget shortfalls and reduce youth smoking .

This support comes from a broad spectrum of voters, including 61 percent of Republicans, 65 percent of Democrats, and 62 percent of Independents. In addition, voters from around the state and across every demographic group strongly support the tobacco tax increase.

“Now is the time for legislators to listen to the large majority of West Virginia voters who want to raise the tobacco tax instead of cutting critical programs. These results show that, regardless of party, voters across West Virginia understand raising the tobacco tax is a smart way to address budget shortfalls and debt while protecting our kids from tobacco,” said Chuck Hamsher of the American Heart Association. “Raising the tobacco tax is a win, win for West Virginia.”

The survey of 500 registered West Virginia voters was released by the Coalition for a Tobacco Free West Virginia, which includes the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.

West Virginia voters also express a preference for candidates who support the tobacco tax. By a margin of 55 percent to 33 percent, voters opt for a candidate who supports the tax over one who opposes it. The preference for candidates who support the tobacco tax holds for Democrats, independents, and Republicans.

“Clearly, West Virginia voters view the tobacco tax as different than other taxes,” commented Mark Mellman whose firm conducted the poll. “Far from punishing policy-makers who support the tobacco tax, they are more likely to reward them.”

West Virginia voters strongly prefer the tobacco tax over other options for addressing the state’s budget woes. When presented with a list of options for closing the budget gap 58% percent support increasing the tobacco tax for this purpose, while a majority opposed other options such as increasing state sales, income, or gasoline taxes, and reducing funding for health care, education, or nursing home care. Increasing the alcohol tax was the only other proposal to garner majority support.

A recent report by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other public health organizations found that a $1 increase in West Virginia’s tobacco tax would raise $117 million in new annual revenue for the state, despite the declines in smoking it would help bring about. The tax increase would also prevent 19,100 West Virginia kids from smoking, save 9,500 state residents from premature, smoking-caused deaths and save $458 million in tobacco-related health care costs (for more information, go to www.tobaccofreekids.org/winwinwin). These health benefits would be even greater if some portion of the tax is used to fund tobacco prevention and cessation programs, which are underfunded in West Virginia. Three-fourths of voters in the poll support funding prevention efforts at the level recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

West Virginia’s current cigarette tax is 55 cents per pack, which ranks 44th in the nation and is well below the national average of $1.44 per pack.

The survey was conducted by the polling firm The Mellman Group. The statewide poll has a random sample of 500 registered West Virginia voters and was conducted May 8 to May 11, 2010. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 4.4 percentage points.

A coalition of state and national health advocates will release a new poll showing widespread support for raising the tobacco tax $1 to reduce youth smoking and generate new revenue for the state budget. The results will be announced at a news conference on Tuesday, June 8 at 2:00 PM.

WHO: Chuck Hamsher, American Heart Association; Coalition for a Tobacco Free West Virginia

Pete Fisher, Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids

Nathan Henry, The Mellman Group, Inc.

WHAT: News Conference call to present poll findings.

WHERE: Governor’s Conference Room
State Capitol

WHEN: Tuesday, June 8, 2010, 2:00 PM

Finance Committees in both the House and the Senate have passed out budget bills for FY2011 and there is good news - and bad news - in the proposals for tobacco control.

The House version of the budget restored funding to the tobacco prevention line item to the same level as FY2010 - $5,667,111 - eliminating the 11.5% cuts proposed by Governor Manchin.

However, the Senate kept the cuts advocated by Governor Manchin in his budget proposal and the Senate’s bill would only fund tobacco prevention efforts at $5,010,793.

Over the next few days the two chambers will go about the procedural requirements of appointing budget conferees who will work on hammering out differences between the two versions of the budget bill. Conferees will meet into next week during the extended budget session and, once their work is complete, the full legislature must pass the compromise budget bill to send it to the Governor.

Please contact your House and Senate members requesting that they support the funding of tobacco prevention efforts at NO LESS THAN the FY2010 level .

The Huntington Herald Dispatch is reporting that Cabell Circuit Judge Jane Hustead this afternoon dismissed a temporary injunction on the Cabell County ban on smoking in bars and gambling parlors.

The impact of this ruling is that the new clean indoor air regulation takes effect immediately in Cabell County.

Click here to read the full story from the front page of today’s Charleston Gazette.

The West Virginia Division of Tobacco Prevention (DTP) has begun notifying program grantees around the state of cuts in program funding which will occur in the wake of the budget cut proposed by Governor Manchin to the tobacco education and prevention line item and currently under consideration by the legislature .

According to an email sent to DTP grant subrecipients on Monday “…the Division of Tobacco Prevention is looking at a significant reduction for SFY11 of our State tobacco education and prevention program funding. We also will not have the available the planned carry over funds that we have enjoyed in the past few years. 

” These factors, plus other potential, anticipated reductions in available tobacco prevention funding will cause at minimum a projected 30 percent reduction (as of today) in DTP funding from this to next state fiscal year.”

This reduction in program grants is significantly higher that the 11.5% overall cut proposed by the Administration and, from the programs known to have been notified yesterday, some projects will be completely eliminated.

This underscores the need to continue to ask legislators to reject the reduction in the tobacco education and prevention funding level as proposed by Governor Manchin. Contact your House of Delegate and Senate members immediately and ask that they restore the tobacco prevention funding to at least the FY2010 level.

Also, call Governor Manchin at 1-888-438-2731 and ask him to stop the cuts to existing tobacco prevention, education and cessation programs!

The Coalition for a Tobacco Free West Virginia has asked the Department of Health and Human Resources for clarification of these proposed cuts and if some of the reductions in grants comes from a change in direction or utilization of tobacco prevention funds.

HB2773 is a bill relating to prohibited access and usage of tobacco products by minors. It increases the monetary penalties for selling tobacco products to minors; and providing that the sale or furnishing of tobacco products to minors may constitute grounds for dismissal as an act of misconduct; clarifying the impact of such a dismissal on the discharged employees’ eligibility to receive unemployment benefits; and increasing the monetary penalties for minors possessing tobacco products.

The bill, if passed by the Senate and signed by the Governor, will amend Sections §16-9A-2 and §16-9A-3 of the Code of West Virginia:

Increasing penalties for any individual who violates any of the provisions of this code are summarized as:

(1) guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined $100 (was $25) for the first offense.

(2) misdemeanor and at least $250 fine (was $100) but not more than $500 (was $200) for a second offense,

(3) misdemeanor and at least $500 fine (was $200) but not more than $750 (was $500) for the third offense,

(4) misdemeanor and at least $1,000 but not more than $5,000 for any subsequent offenses,

(5) Any individual who knowingly and intentionally sells, gives or furnishes or causes to be sold, given or furnished to any person under the age of eighteen years any cigar, cigarette, snuff, chewing tobacco or tobacco product, in any form, is guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, for the first offense shall be fined not more than $100; upon conviction thereof for a second or subsequent offense, is guilty of a misdemeanor and shall be fined not less than $100 nor more than $500.

(6) Any employer who discovers that his or her employee has sold or furnished tobacco products to minors may dismiss such employee for cause. Any such discharge shall be considered as “gross misconduct” for the purposes of determining the discharged employee’s eligibility for unemployment benefits in accordance with the provisions of section three, article six, chapter twenty-one-a of this code, if the employer has provided the employee with prior written notice in the workplace that such act or acts may result in their termination from employment.

Introduced in the West Virginia House of Delegates today was HB4507 which would allow any person or business to appeal decisions of local boards of health to the county commission. The legislation, as proposed, is retroactive and would place all actions made by West Virginia’s 49 boards of health for the PAST THREE YEARS - as well as all future actions - in jeopordy.

This is the latest of a number of bills aimed at weakening local boards of health and politicizing the decisions they make.

The obvious target of this legislation are the many clean indoor air regulations put in place over the past several years. The lead sponsor of the bill, Delegate Doug Reynolds, has been a vocal opponent of the new clean indoor air regulation passed in Cabell County last month. This bill, however, would apply to ALL DECISIONS AND ACTIONS of local boards of health and would place special interests above the interest of protecting public health.

Other sponsors of this legislation are Delegates Border, Skaff, Sobonya, C. Miller, D. Walker, Campbell, Spencer, Poore, Hunt and Manchin.

The bill is single referenced to the House Judiciary Committee and could move very quickly.

 Time is critical in contacting members of this committee to urge their REJECTION of this dangerous and ill-conceived legislation.

Members of the Judiciary Committee and contact information:

Delegate Miley - Chair - (304) 340-3252

Delegate Hunt - Vice-Chair - (304) 340-3392

Delegate Ellem - Minority Chair - (304) 340-3394

Delegate Lane - Minority Vice-Chair - (304) 340-3275

Delegate Barker - (304) 340-3149

Delegate Brown - (304) 340-3106 

Delegate Caputo -  (304) 340-3249

Delegate Ferro - (304) 340-3111

Delegate Fleischauer - (304) 340-3169

Delegate Frazier - (304) 340-3396 

Delegate Hutchins - (304) 340-3270

Delegate Longstreth - (304) 340-3124 

Delegate Michael - (304) 340-3340

Delegate Moore - (304) 340-3189 

Delegate Ross - (304) 340-3145

Delegate Shook - (304) 340-3173

Delegate Skaff - (304) 340-3362 

Delegate Susman - (304) 340-3183

Delegate Wells - (304) 340-3287

Delegate Wooton - (304) 340-3164

Delegate Hamilton - (304) 340-3167

Delegate Overington - (304) 340-3148

Delegate Schadler - (304) 340-3191

Delegate Schoen - (304) 340-3141

Delegate Sobonya - (304) 340-3175

Call members of this committee IMMEDIATELY and express your opposition to HB 4507!