Legislation to increase West Virginia’s excise tax on tobacco products is currently awaiting action in both the Senate Health and Human Resources Committee and the House Health and Human Resources Committee.
This legislation calls for increasing West Virginia’s tax on cigarettes by $1.00 per pack to $1.55 and also increase the tax on other tobacco products (cigars, snuff, snus, etc.) to 50 percent of the wholesale price of the product.
As introduced, these bills also call for dedicating $27 million to tobacco prevention and education programs as recommended for West Virginia by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
According to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids , studies and experience in state after state show that higher cigarette taxes are one of the most effective ways to reduce smoking among both youth and adults. Every 10 percent increase in the price of cigarettes reduces youth smoking by about seven percent and overall cigarette consumption by about four percent.
Passage of the proposed increase in West Virginia would result in 19,100 young people being saved from becoming lifetime smokers, 13,100 current adult tobacco users would quit and 9,500 premature dealth from tobacco-related illnesses would be prevented.
Legislators need to hear from their constituents that they should support this legislation this year!
The tobacco tax legislation is likely to be worked on the Senate side first and it is important that you contact Senate Health and Human Resources Committee members NOW and ask that they support SB-362.
Contact information for Senate HHR Committee members is as follows:
Senator Ron Stollings - Chair - (304) 357-7939 - ron.stollings@frontier.com
Senator Dan Foster - Vice-Chair - (304) 357-7866 - daniel.foster@camc.org
Senator Truman Chafin - (304) 357-7808 - truman.chafin@wvsenate.gov
Senator Evan Jenkins - (304) 357-7956 - evan.jenkins@wvsenate.gov
Senator William Laird - (304) 357-7849 - william.laird@wvsenate.gov
Senator Ronald Miller - (304) 357-7959 - ronald.miller@wvsenate.gov
Senator Corey Palumbo - (304) 357-7880 - corey.palumbo@wvsenate.gov
Senator Roman Prezioso - (304) 357-7961 - roman.prezioso@wvsenate.gov
Senator Gregory Tucker - (304) 357-7906 - greg.tucker@wvsenate.gov
Senator Mark Wills - (304) 357-7843 - mark.wills@wvsenate.gov
Senator Jack Yost - (304) 357-7984 - jack.yost@wvsenate.gov
Senator Donna Boley - (304) 357-7905 - donnaboley@suddenlink.net
Senator Mike Hall - (304) 357-7901 - delegate200@hotmail.com
Make your voice heard and call or email these legislators TODAY and urge their support of SB-362!
February 5th, 2011 at 9:19 am
What a proven-effective, science-based opportunity the WV Legislature has before it to increase the price of tobacco products (in passing a tobacco tax increase to get WV up to the US national average)! Not only can they vote to reverse the decades of social injustices of tobacco us in WV, but they also can dedicate much needed funding to tobacco and other health, substance abuse prevention efforts (and still have millions to also address the soaring retirement debt)! A Win-Win-Win!!
February 9th, 2011 at 12:02 pm
Please pass this important bill to increase taxes on cigarettes. Research indicates that increasing taxes has the most impact on underage smokers. Wouldn’t it be great to bring more money to the fight to reduce smoking and to give greater incentives to youth to quit smoking? Smoking kills many people in West Virginia, painful deaths from cancer, emphysema, COPD. Please help end these needless deaths. Vote to increase the tax! Please!