Smoke 'Em If You Can Afford 'Em: Cigarette Tax Hike Passes

The state Senate approved another budget extender bill which will keep Albany up and running for the next week, but which also included a $1.60 hike of the states tax on cigarettes, bringing the total state tax per pack up to $4.35. The bill passed the Senate in a 32-29 party-line vote and passed the Assembly 77-64. Republicans, who previously vowed not to pass any bill which included tax raises, were upset. Deputy Minority Leader Thomas Libous (R-Binghamton) told the Daily News, "This is just a prelude of what you are going to see in the big ugly. You are going to see spending and taxes, everything that you shouldn't do in this economy."

The price of an average pack in the city will reach nearly $11 when the taxes are put into effect on July 1st, and the cost of smokeless tobacco will jump from $.96 an ounce to nearly $2 an ounce. Starting in September, the state will also begin collecting taxes on cigarettes sold on Indian reservations to off-reservation visitors. One Indian chief told the Times that trying to collect taxes from the reservation would be considered an act of war.

The taxes could raise anywhere from $290 million to $440 million for the state, helping to close the gaping $9.2 billion budget. Lawmakers have agreed on 70% of the budget so far, but Albany could shut down as early as next week if yet another budget extender bill isn't passed. Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver said he has confidence in the progress Albany is making with budget negotiations: "I think they’re going well—maybe a little slower than I anticipated last week, but I think they’re going well." Wow, we'd really hate to see what negotiations look like when they're going poorly!

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By Jaya Saxena in News on June 22, 2010 10:22 AM

Comments [rss]

pnikic

this is so f*cked up! these over-taxes really have to stop.

spiritross

But

Life ain't good without cigarettes.

And

Human civilization ends in 2012 anyway

So

Why bother?

Guest

i still haven't fully resumed to smoking yet, so i can't argue. yet.

altoid

if NYS legalized marijuana then they wouldnt have this problem

laisla

Right?

braveviper

I dont think anyone mentioned the loss of life and property due to careless smoking.

valeriob

WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THE IDIOT TAX?! (Also known as the lottery)

inoyourider

Good job.

Make a few bucks off of the death sticks while you can.

Beats taxing other things, or cutting more services.

SP's Ghost

Great job getting this passed. Although they should have made it a nice round $2. Next up, they should pass some laws to fine smokers who toss their cigarette butts (and plastic wrappers, foil paper, and crumpled empty packs too) in the street. Give cops a bonus for every 10 tickets they write to provide a real incentive to enforce the law. Fine the hell out of them. And if they are repeat offenders, put them in jail for a night then sentence them to community service. Cleaning gutters would be a great start.

hotstepper

http://www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com/bigmap/citywide/dsny/05parkavenue06-02-08.jpg

SP's Ghost

snark fail. everyone knows those things don't work, they're just part of the city's charade to justify writing parking tickets. only manual labor can do the job. plus, the point is twofold: the first obviously is to have cleaner street. the second is to educate people to have respect for their surroundings and the people they share the streets with. severe punishment is the only solution since you are unwilling to moderate your own behavior.

hotstepper

"snark fail" ... "everyone knows those things don't work"

well, with such a well-crafted argument how could one possibly retort? i mean, if you're saying it then by golly it must be true!

fosiacat

well, i've never seen one driving on the sidewalk, on the overpass, on the steps of office buildings, on walkways in parks, but i dunno, i guess you could be right.

and those things are infallible as we all know, once one of those puppies drives down the street, its magically clean! regardless of whether they have to drive around objects, or they simply don't pick everything up!

seriously, is it that difficult to comprehend? have you never been on a street after a streetsweeper went through?

give me a break. just give up, clearly you have nothing of value to contribute here. you're grasping for straws. when you have to start picking apart someone's argument for logistics and "gotchas" without bringing anything new, your argument has run its course.

fosiacat

ooooooh its the "someone else is there to clean up after me" mentality.

gotta love the privileged!

hotstepper

your shitty attitude is pollution.

fosiacat

right, because disagreeing with the bird-brained shit coming out of your internet-mouth is just having a bad attitude.

whats wrong, can't hang with people who can think logically?

hotstepper

you know, here we all are having such a lovely time arguing and you have to go and spoil it with your angry.

virgilstarkwell

"This is just a prelude of what you are going to see in the big ugly. You are going to see spending and taxes, everything that you shouldn't do in this economy."

gotta love these populist-sounding republicans with their 'taxes are bad' soundbites. ok, big shot - you have my attention. what's the next 20 words? how are you going to solve this problem? by going back to the fucked-up policy of giving big money and tax breaks to business and hoping that they decide to reinvest it in their businesses vs. pocket it for themselves and their shareholders?

it didn't work under reagan, it didn't work under any of the bushes, and it won't work now - because it can't. because it doesn't take greed into consideration.

so shut the fuck up.

Radbecca

I get $35 cartons mailed to me from my folks back home. And there's a little Asian lady who sells 'em for $5 a pack around the LES on Friday nights... thought I don't frequent the LES on Friday nights.

Guest

i switched to natural american spirit: made with 100% organic tobacco awhile ago, so i'm fucked. if your lady sells them too -- it's the reddish-brown pack -- let me know. thanks.