House approves bill hiking cigarette tax

The Post and Courier

COLUMBIA — By only a handful of votes, and in some cases as few as two, the House shot down about 10 proposals to alter the Senate’s plan to raise the tax on cigarettes by 50 cents.

Now, the biggest hurdle for the bill, which will help as many as 200,000 uninsured South Carolinians get health care coverage, is to survive an expected veto by Gov. Mark Sanford.

South Carolina’s 7-cent per pack cigarette tax is the lowest in the nation. It has not increased since 1977.

As it stands now, the bill would raise $159 million but the money generated is expected to go down as more people quit smoking. Half the money would go toward Medicaid programs and the rest to helping lower-income workers purchase health insurance.

House Majority Leader Jim Merrill led the fight on the floor to defeat the plan, questioning what the state would do to pay for more people on the Medicaid rolls as the revenue stream dwindles.

For more on the story, read Thursday's editions of The Post and Courier.