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Senate Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
Senate of Pennsylvania
Session of 2013 - 2014
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | March 18, 2013 12:25 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Senator Andrew E. Dinniman |
| To: | All Senate members |
| Subject: | Tax on Smokeless Tobacco |
| Please join me in legislation introduced as Senate Bill 1084 in the 2011-12 session by Senators DINNIMAN, LEACH, COSTA, ERICKSON, FONTANA, HUGHES, TARTAGLIONE, BREWSTER, WILLIAMS and FARNESE, to tax smokeless tobacco. Pennsylvania remains the only state that does not tax this product. According to a Franklin and Marshall College survey, 72 percent of Pennsylvanians favor taxing smokeless tobacco. Such policy is also supported by the Pennsylvania chapters of the American Cancer Society and American Dental Association. Nearly 24 percent of Pennsylvania high school seniors have used smokeless tobacco, according to the 2011 Pennsylvania Youth Survey Report – far more than the 17 percent figure for high school seniors nationwide. The survey further found that more than 11 percent of Pennsylvania seniors had used smokeless tobacco in the last 30 days vs. 8.3 percent nationally. The Centers for Disease Control has confirmed that increases in tobacco prices cause youth who use it to either quit or decrease their use. In my bill, the tax would be assessed on the smokeless tobacco distributor or wholesaler and be 59.2 percent of the wholesale price. This tax rate is nearly equal to the current tax rate of 60 percent on the wholesale price of cigarettes in Pennsylvania. My bill does not propose a tax on cigars. |
Introduced as SB765