Cigarette tax increase still smoldering

Topeka ? Gov. Kathleen Sebelius wants a cigarette tax increase to pay for health care.

“A user tax to pay for additional health care makes wonderful sense to me and makes wonderful sense to a lot of Kansans,” Sebelius said Monday.

It hasn’t made sense to the Kansas Legislature, however.

During the regular session, Sebelius proposed a 50-cent increase in the state cigarette tax, which is 79 cents per pack, to fund an expansion of health coverage.

But it went nowhere in the Legislature. Some complained that it was too soon to hit smokers again after having increased the state cigarette tax from 24 cents per pack to 79 cents per pack in 2002 to prevent a budget shortfall. Others said another substantial increase would prompt Kansas smokers to buy cigarettes outside the state.

Asked Monday if a smaller increase would be more acceptable to lawmakers, Sebelius said, “They didn’t even discuss it this year, so it’s hard to tell.”

Mary Jane Hellebust, director of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition, said a cigarette tax increase could be used to expand health care coverage to thousands of Kansans, while also providing an incentive for people to quit smoking, and help fund programs that assist people in quitting.

“A cigarette tax is automatically a win-win situation,” Hellebust said.

She also said that Kansas’ 79-cent per pack rate ranks 27th in the nation and is below the national state average of 91 cents per pack. Among surrounding states, Kansas’ rate is higher than Missouri, 17 cents; and Nebraska, 64 cents; but less than Colorado, 84 cents, and Oklahoma, $1.03.

Sebelius said expanding coverage to uninsured Kansans, getting control of increasing Medicaid costs and responding to federal government changes in health care would be a priority for her in the coming session.

But House Speaker Doug Mays said increasing tobacco taxes would do little to deal with the state’s rising Medicaid costs, which have more than tripled over the past decade to more than $1.4 billion annually.

Mays, R-Topeka, also questioned Sebelius’ commitment to the proposal, saying it wasn’t debated because the Democratic governor didn’t push it with the GOP-dominated Legislature.

“We didn’t think she was really serious, to tell you the truth,” Mays said.

Lawmakers also are focusing on ways to contain the Medicaid costs that have tripled over the past 10 years.