More Indications that the Cigarette Tax is Dead
Yesterday we wrote that Governor Beshear's increased attention to spending cuts may indicate he has given up on a cigarette tax increase:
Where he earlier asked for agencies to plan for a 4% reduction, he's now asked for them to plan for bigger reductions. One agency says that they're planning for 6.7%....
Does this mean he's given up on increasing cigarette taxes? $246 million more than covers the shortfall the would result from flat revenue ($215 million), and is $200 million more than the $45 million shortfall that would result from the current 2% increase.
Now we learn that in three hours of meetings between the Governor and House and Senate leadership, the cigarette tax wasn't even discussed:
Beshear said yesterday that he did not discuss the cigarette tax with legislators.
Later in the afternoon, House and Senate leaders met without the governor for about two hours.
House Speaker Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, said legislators did not discuss the cigarette tax.
Finally, advocates are working on building support for the cigarette tax increase now, indicating that it needs support to be resurrected in the conversation. If the tax were already part of the discussion, the time for advocacy would be when the vote came to the House floor. Instead the Kentucky Council of Churches tells us in an email alert:
Legislators are receiving numerous contacts from an organized opposition against a tax increase. This is the time when the "closed door" meetings are occurring which will likely significantly influence whatever proposed amount makes it into the House bill that will move to the Senate.
If tax-increasing advocates are afraid of cigarette tax discussions in closed-door meetings, and we know there aren't any tax discussions in those closed-door meetings, then I think that's a pretty good indication of where the cigarette tax increase stands.
