For Immediate Release:
March 23, 2004
President Pro Tempore Cal Hobson
Senate Finance Committee OKs Tobacco Tax Legislation
The Senate Finance Committee approved legislation
Tuesday which may eventually allow Oklahomans to vote on
a proposed increase in the state tax on tobacco products.
The measure was reported “do pass” by the committee
on a 12-0 vote.
House Bill 2660 currently does not include a tobacco tax
increase, but Senate President Pro Tempore Cal
Hobson, Senate author of the measure, says he hopes
to work out details in a Senate-House conference committee
that will allow a statewide vote on a tobacco tax increase
later this year.
Hobson, D-Lexington, said he was pleased by Tuesday morning’s
committee vote.
“The unanimous manner by which the Senate Finance
Committee passed House Bill 2660 indicates to me that a
vast majority of our members are willing to continue the
discussion about an increase in the tobacco tax to fund
health care initiatives,” Hobson said.
House Speaker Larry
Adair, D-Stilwell, is the principal author of the legislation.
The bill originally included Governor Brad
Henry’s proposal to send a 52-cent in the tax
on a pack of cigarettes to a vote of the people and designate
the proceeds from the tax to fund a sweeping health initiative.
Opposition to the statewide vote in the House led to the
measure being amended into its current form.
“Since the House passed the current version of the
legislation there has been some positive movement and I’m
very hopeful that we can build a consensus in the Legislature
that will allow us to let the people of Oklahoma decide
if they want to raise the tax on cigarettes,” Hobson
said.
Oklahoma must begin to address its growing health crisis,
the Senate leader said.
“The future health of our state is at stake. Oklahoma
is one of the unhealthiest states in the country and Governor
Henry’s Health Initiative would be a major step forward
in reversing the trend that saw Oklahoma become the only
state to get statistically sicker in the decade of the 1990s."
“We need to expand health insurance to hundreds of
thousands of working poor Oklahomans. We need to ensure
the viability of a statewide trauma system to deal with
the most extreme of medical emergencies and we need a cancer
research and treatment center so thousands of Oklahomans
can wage the battle for their lives without having to board
a plane to Texas, Colorado or Missouri,” Hobson said.
House Bill 2660 now goes to the full Senate. If approved
on the Senate floor it will be sent to a joint Senate-House
conference committee where the final language can be worked
out.
For
more information contact:
President
Pro Tempore Office - (405) 521-5605
