The CEO of the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky has a mixed reaction to the just approved cigarette tax increase in Frankfort.
Ben Chandler and other health advocates had been pushing lawmakers to raise the per pack tax on cigarettes by one dollar. “We think it was a missed opportunity because they’re not going to get the health benefits they would have gotten had they added a dollar on to the tax. But, that being said, it is a historic tax increase here in Kentucky on a pack of cigarettes,” said Chandler.
Chandler says the previous largest state tax hike on cigarettes was 30 cents per pack. Senate President Robert Stivers said this week this is not the end of tax reform. Chandler says if lawmakers upped the cigarette tax by another 50 cents next session, that would be another step in the right direction. The entire tax reform package approved by House and Senate members is now before Gov. Matt Bevin for his review.?
