Still aims to fund higher education through cigarette tax proposal

Rep. Mary Still, D-Columbia, filed legislation last week to more than quadruple the current cigarette tax in the state, stating Missouri has the lowest tobacco tax of any state in the nation.

She also noted that Missouri has the highest rate of pregnant mothers smoking in the nation, and has the fourth highest lung cancer rate.

Still said she hopes to pass House Bill 1478, a proposed tax increase that would raise the tax on a pack of 20 cigarettes from $0.17 to $0.89, in order to fund public education.

She sees raising the tax as a seemingly easy way to find funding for education and to improve the health of Missourians.

“I see no redeeming qualities in being the state with the lowest tobacco taxes in the nation,” she said.

The bill would generate $400 million a year in revenue, which would be more than enough to offset the 12 percent cut to higher education that Gov. Jay Nixon has proposed, Still said.

Still said the tax increase would still leave Missouri’s cigarette tax as one of the lowest in the nation, as the national average per pack is $1.46. She said she sees this as a time that tough decisions are being made regarding public schools and higher education, and she hopes to receive bi-partisan support for a tax increase that raises significant revenue.

Still tried passing similar legislation last year when she advocated a $0.12 increase that would have lasted for four years.

The bill will need to be cleared by a house committee as well as pass through floor debate in the house and senate. If approved, the bill would be put to the vote in the general election in November.

Attempts to raise the state’s tobacco taxes have failed twice in the past, both in 2002 and 2006, gaining 49 percent approval both times, according to a Columbia Missourian article.

“I see nothing good about having as low of a tax as we do in Missouri,” Still said.