Oct 22, 2007 7:32 pm US/Eastern
Special Session To Tackle Budget Deficit
by Pat Warren
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) ―
Just one week from Monday, the Maryland General Assembly starts working on a list of tax increases aimed at curing the state's projected budget deficit.
Those proposals include a one dollar increase in the state's cigarette tax.
Pat Warren reports those in favor are hitting the airways.
Governor O'Malley breaks down the budget and reveals where the biggest chunk of your tax dollars will go.
"This is public health. This is the next biggest one. It's public health. So public health is then 25 percent of this," said Governor Martin O'Malley.
And in his desire to make healthcare more accessible for more Marylanders, tobacco is again a target. The governor is proposing a dollar increase per pack and his supporters go on air to sell it.
A radio ad hit the air Monday from the group Healthy Maryland Initiative supporting O'Malley's push to get Maryland's health care system back on track.
"It's smart, economically sound, and politically popular. Almost 80 percent of Maryland voters want the tobacco tax for healthcare, so we think the consensus is there to do it. Maryland should not be behind in providing healthcare for people; it should be ahead," said Vincent DeMarco from the Healthy Maryland Initiative.
But opponents point out that a dollar increase runs the risk of people buying cigarettes out of state. Instead of getting two dollars a pack, Maryland gets none.
"It could drive people to other states or even to the Internet to buy cigarettes, so they can avoid paying that tax. And also it's unfair to adults who smoke because they're the ones who are going to bare the brunt of that tax if it's enacted," said one protester.
But from the administration's perspective, one more dollar will do wonders.
"It can provide enough money to give money to small businesses to get health care and to expand Medicaid so that we can provide health care for 100,000 uninsured people," said DeMarco.
Critics of the proposal say it banks on making a profit on a product that people are constantly being told to stop buying.
The House Of Delegates passed the cigarette tax in regular session this year, but it never made it through the Senate.
(© MMVII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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