Cigarette tax keeps budget in limbo
Friday, July 29th, 2005
By Chris Fitzsimon
Charlotte Observer
At least 10 Democrats block 35-cent increase
MARK JOHNSON
Raleigh Bureau
RALEIGH - The phrase "a dime’s worth of difference" sums up the fight over how much to raise North Carolina’s cigarette tax.
At least 10 Democrats in the House of Representatives have blocked an agreement on a state budget, now nearly a month overdue, by refusing to support a cigarette tax increase larger than 25 cents. They’ve balked at the 35-cent hike approved by the Senate, creating the largest obstacle to passing a state spending plan.
"It’s a question of being competitive," said Rep. Dewey Hill, a Democrat from Columbus County on the South Carolina border. "A Food Lion 100 yards (from the state line) in Tabor City will be $2.70 a carton higher than the next store in South Carolina" even with just a 25-cent increase.
Two weeks ago, the no-more-than-a-quarter contingent filed into House Speaker Jim Black’s office, declaring they wouldn’t vote for a larger increase.
"That hasn’t changed," Black said Wednesday.
North Carolina, the No. 1 tobacco-producing state, imposes the lowest cigarette tax in the nation, 5 cents a pack. The second-largest tobacco company, R.J. Reynolds, is headquartered in Winston-Salem, and Philip Morris, the biggest cigarette maker, runs a plant in Cabarrus County.
Democrats control both the House and Senate and are writing the state budget. They hold a 63 to 57 majority in the House and need almost every vote in their party to pass a budget.
The distinction between a quarter and 35 cents puzzles some legislators.
"People who are going to be upset with cigarette taxes being raised are going to be upset," said Rep. Joe Tolson, D-Edgecombe.
Black, who needs 61 votes to pass a budget, said somebody has to budge, but he’s not going to shove. "It’s never been my style to twist arms on something they feel strongly about."
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