On Sept. 25, Governor Ted Kulongoski (D) proposed an increase of the state’s cigarette tax by 85 cents, expanding it to $2.03 per pack. The new $150 to $170 million in revenue would fund the ailing Oregon Health Plan and provide health coverage for thousands of low-income Oregon children.
The Emerald supports Gov. Kulongoski’s proposal to bolster state-wide health care through a vice tax. Clearly, smoking-related illness already draws from our health care resources. The tax would curb smoking in Oregon while raising much-needed funding for our declining health care system. The only people who suffer from this tax are the smokers who should quit regardless of the cost.
Cigarette taxes have proven effective in the past. According to the American Lung Association’s Tobacco Control report from 2002, “Increasing the price of tobacco products is arguably the most effective method of curbing the prevalence and consumption of tobacco products. Price increases would reduce the global burden of disease brought about by tobacco consumption.”
This win-win tax for Oregon would place the price of cigarettes in state equal to those in Washington. Surely, if they can take, we can too. If the tax and plan for health care are approved, the state would subsidize health care coverage on a sliding scale for children younger than 19 in families of four with a maximum annual income of $70,000 and completely subsidize health care for families of four with
annual incomes of less than $40,000
(Oregonian, 9/26). The Emerald encourages voters to support the tax.