Cigar Tax Update

by Gary Manelski,
Your Guide to Cigars.
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Both the U.S. House and Senate have passed their own versions of bills to continue, and provide additional funding for the State Children's Health Insurance Program, by increasing the federal excise tax on tobacco products - including cigars. Congress is now on vacation for the month of August, but they will attempt to reconcile their differences before the end of September, when the current program is scheduled to expire. A joint bill will then be sent to the President, who must approve the legislation before it becomes the law of the land. However, President Bush has threatened to veto this legislation, so both the House and Senate will need enough votes to override the veto. Therefore, at this point, anything is still possible.

Here are the latest proposed increases in the federal excise tax on cigars:

Current Tax: $.05 per cigar
House Version: 33% tax rate with a maximum tax of $1 per cigar
Senate Version: 53% tax rate with a maximum tax of $3 per cigar

Under the House version, the new tax would be $1 on cigars costing $3 or more, and 33% on cigars costing less than $3. Under the Senate version, the new tax would be $3 on cigars costing $5.65 or more, and 53% on cigars costing less than $5.65. Although the House version is less damaging to cigar smokers, a $1 tax still represents an increase of 2,000%, compared to a nickel. According to the current results of our ongoing opinion poll, 48% of cigar smokers would quit smoking if the tax was raised to $0.25 or more per cigar. If the tax was raised to $.050 or more per cigar, 80% of cigar smokers would stop smoking cigars. This would virtually put an end to the cigar industry as we now know it.

Unless you want to pay $25 to $75 more for your next box of cigars, the time to act is now!

Click Here For No New Cigar Taxes

ALSO HERE IS A YOUTUBE VIDEO ON THE CIGAR TAX FROM ROCKY PATEL OF PATEL PREMIUM CIGARS

Husted on School Choice in Ohio

From: Husted, Jon
Sent: Monday, July 16, 2007 9:11 AM
Subject: School Choice in Ohio
July 16, 2007

RE: School Choice in Ohio

In his State of the State speech on March 14, 2007, Ohio’s new Governor, Ted Strickland vowed to strike a blow against school choice by placing a moratorium on charter schools, cutting funding to them and eliminating the Ed Choice Scholarship Program – a statewide voucher program for children trapped in chronically underperforming schools.

In a March 29 editorial, the Wall Street Journal noted, “New Governor Ted Strickland has decided that one of his first priorities should be an assault on public and private school choice.” Students, parents, educators and legislators, quickly rallied in order to respond to the policies set forth by the governor in his executive budget proposal that would have virtually eliminated the school choice options that were serving nearly 100,000 of our state’s children.

I write today to let you know we defeated the Governor’s proposals to eliminate school choice and actually advanced the school choice agenda in Ohio.

With the strong case that the advocates for school choice made during the months of debate, we were able to pass the budget in the House, restoring the school choice provisions, 97-0. The Senate followed with a 33-0 vote, and eventually the Governor signed the bill. However, it was not before he line-item vetoed the special needs voucher program – a new program we had included in the bill.

I want to reassure all, especially the parents and special needs students that we will not let the special needs issue die and will work to change the Governor’s mind and the law.

Overall, this was a success story, not just because we restored and advanced school choice, but because we have begun to change hearts and minds.

I thank you for the work you are doing to promote school choice. Your support is meaningful in this success story, and it is my hope that Ohio can serve as an example of why school choice is so important and the lives it touches everywhere. Be sure that I will continue to work to preserve and expand the opportunity for children to learn in a school of their choice.

Sincerely,

Jon A. HustedSpeaker
Ohio House of Representatives


Enclosure: Preserving School Choice for Ohio Students and Parents