Good News and Bad, a New Lounge and Tobacco Taxes are High Enough by Frank Seltzer
Let’s get the bad news out of the way . The weasels in Illinois are trying to sneak through an increase in tobacco taxes. The vote in the Illinois House was on Friday and they hoped to meet over the Memorial Day weekend to work out details. The tax would increase cigarettes by a buck a pack and double the tax on cigars.
According to the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association legislative director Chris McCalla:
“The legislators are hoping to sign off on these laws while everyone is out enjoying their Memorial Day Weekend. If this isn’t a violation of the state’s Government in the Sunshine laws, it certainly violates the spirit of a representative democracy. They want to pass this with as little attention as possible.”
The Illinois Senate still needs to vote but they want the tax to go into effect beginning in July so they have to finish the vote fast. There still is some time to act, according to IPCPR CEO Bill Spann:
“Voice your opposition to the back room dealings in Illinois to raise the #cigar OTP tax from 18% to 36% while no one is paying attention over the long weekend! Call President of the Senate John Cullerton at 217-782-2728; Republican Leader of the Senate Christine Radogno @ 217-782-9707; House Speaker Michael Madigan @ 217-782-5350; and House Republican Leader Tom Cross @ 217-782-1331. Say “NO CIGAR TAX INCREASE FOR ILLINOIS!” Call. Quickly.”
Ohio’s top court says smoking ban ok
In Ohio, the State Supreme Court ruled the smoking ban in the state IS constitutional.
Ohio Justice Judith Ann Lanzinger, in authoring the opinion, wrote, “The goal of this legislation is to protect the health of the workers and other citizens of Ohio. It does so by regulating proprietors of public places and places of employment in a minimally invasive way.”
Right. Says the attorney representing the challengers to the law, Maurice Thompson ,
”There’s really no meaningful limit on the regulation of private property in Ohio by the government.” Thompson said it is unlikely they would appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court on a federal property-rights issue, even though Ohio’s is the first state Supreme Court to rule on that issue with regard to a smoking ban. He said Ohio has some of the strongest property protection laws in the country.
“So we felt that if there was anywhere we could win, it was with bars in Ohio,” he said.
Thompson said he expects the fight to move now to the state Legislature, where a bill already is in the works to exempt bars from the ban.
NY Sense
The author of a bill to ban smoking at beaches and parks in Suffolk County, NY is having a change of heart – of sorts. William Spencer says he wants a balance between the rights of smokers and non-smokers. As a result he is amending his own bill which totally banned smoking with no compromise, to a new version which will allow sections for smokers. It may be a small step but it is New York.
Alabama ban fails
The Alabama legislature has left the building and in doing so the members also left behind a proposed smoking ban. The ban would have banned smoking in almost all public venues including bars and restaurants (even outside seating), outdoor bleachers and grandstands, hotels, motels and retail stores (you know, cigar stores). The IPCPR and retailers in the state helped to scuttle the bill….at least until next year. We have to stay vigilant.
Davidoff opens first US lounge
Kelsey Gramer opens Davidoff lounge
While cigar taxes may be going up in Illinois (don’t forget to call the above legislators) Davidoff of Geneva has opened its first lounge in the US and in Illinois to boot. The Humidor of Westmont, IL, opened this past week with Boss star Kelsey Grammer cutting the ribbon. Davidoff makes Camacho and Avo along with its namesake brand)
The new lounge is 500 square feet with 14 foot high ceilings. The lounge naturally has lockers for members which flank a fireplace.
Wall insets highlight artwork that depicts images of the tobacco cultivating process that are at the heart of the Davidoff tobacco fields in the Dominican Republic. Additional artwork romanticizes old world tools used by the torcedor.
Smoke and save the Government $$
This is not new, a study a few years ago in Europe said all the bunk about smokers costing governments money was just that, bunk (and an excuse to raise tobacco taxes). Today comes yet another report this time from New Zealand’s treasury department. The report says smokers pay more in taxes than their health care costs. (No kidding). One reason is that cigarette smokers die earlier than non smokers. The report came out because New Zealand is trying to raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes to….wait for it….$20 over the next 4 years. The treasury report says the amount NZ smokers pay already is more than their health care costs. The country’s Assistant Health Minister, who came up with the tax increase, says:
The regulatory impact statement said taxing smokers was a much more reliable way of generating income for the Government than taxing other goods and services.
It said tobacco taxes were “very efficient” for raising revenue because the addictive nature of nicotine meant smokers were not highly sensitive to price increases.
Yeah…explain that to Illinois and other states who experience revenue drops when the taxes go up. Oh yeah and at $20 a pack, guess New Zealand’s black market and bootlegging operations will take off. Morons.
