Smokers' News from Nativeblend.net
Minnesota Cigarette Fee -Judge Rules It Illegal!
The 75 cent "health
impact fee" on cigarette packs enacted last summer in Minnesota was recently
ruled illegal by Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch. The action was
reported in the Pioneer
Press.
The fee violates the terms of the 1998 multi-billion-dollar court settlement
between the state and several tobacco companies, which paid for all past and
future health care costs incurred by the state because of smoking, the judge
said.
The ruling will cost Minnesota about $200 million annually, as the fee was helping
to balance the state budget and was increasing funding to public schools.
Minnesota lawmakers and Gov. Tim Pawlenty can decide to appeal the ruling, amend
the law to include the fee as an addition to existing state cigarette taxes,
or accept the ruling and use budget surplus or tax relief money to make up for
lost revenue.
Pawlenty pledged not to increase taxes during his 2002 campaign, but some lawmakers
called the fee a disguised tax. However, tobacco companies have a case against
the charge regardless of whether it is a fee or a tax, as long as it is designed
to pay for smoking-related health costs, said Steve Patton, attorney for R.J.
Reynolds, a cigarette manufacturer opposing the fee along with tobacco companies
Philip Morris and Lorillard.
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