Cigarette Tax Debate Expected Tuesday

The South Carolina House is working on next year’s budget and Tuesday afternoon is expected to debate raising the state cigarette tax. South Carolina’s current tax of 7 cents a pack is the lowest in the nation. The federal cigarette tax is already going up by 62 cents a pack on April 1, with the money going to the State Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as S-CHIP. Lawmakers passed a state cigarette tax increase last year, but Gov. Mark Sanford vetoed it. He favored an increase only if there was a tax cut somewhere else, making the bill revenue neutral. His spokesman says the governor feels the same way this year, and would likely veto any cigarette tax increase that wasn’t revenue neutral.