Raising the tax on cigarettes saves lives because higher prices create greater hurdles for people to buy tobacco products, especially cash-strapped teens.
If we’re serious about curbing teen smoking, making the habit more expensive makes sense.
Does it also make it harder for low-income people to buy smokes? Yes.
Will it mean some smaller businesses may suffer from lost sales? Yes.
But, reducing smoking rates saves millions of dollars by reducing private and public spending for the care and treatment of killer diseases, like heart disease, stroke, respiratory cancers, respiratory infections and pulmonary disease. And, less smoking means less absenteeism at work, which saves businesses money and enhances productivity.
LD 536 is a bill now before the Legislature that would increase the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack, up to $3.50 from the current $2 per pack tax. For someone buying a 10-pack carton, the increase would be $15.
The change is being proposed specifically to tackle teen smoking rates, which have climbed in recent years.
In 1995, an estimated 36 percent of high school students in Maine were smokers. By 2007, that rate had dropped to 14 percent. In 2009, the rate had climbed to 18.1 percent and appears to be continuing its incremental increase.
We must do what we can to halt that trend.
The fact is, when the price of cigarettes goes up, people quit.
So, if we want people to quit, we must raise the price.
If our goal is better health and reduced health care costs, doesn’t it make sense to burden a product that causes poor health and creates high costs?
We think it does.
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The public school budget season, like black flies, has arrived in all its annoyance.
In RSU 10 – Rumford, Buckfield, Dixfield and nine other towns – school directors have already trimmed $1 million from their budget, and hope to trim another $2 million before going to voters with a $34.2 million proposal. Their goal? Presenting voters with a budget that is not a single penny more than last year.
In Auburn, the City Council has directed the School Committee to trim $2.5 million from its $35.9 million budget proposal. Doing so, however, would trigger a $1.3 million reduction in state aid, so cutting $2.5 million local dollars means cutting 3.8 million total dollars. That’s a deep cut, and one school administrators say cannot be inflicted without great pain.
In Lewiston, City Councilors have dissected the proposed school budget so completely that they’re vigorously debating the merit of a $42,000 savings in a $52.5 million budget by eliminating one school bus run to St. Dominic Academy.
These cuts, large and small, aren’t a reflection of how we feel about our children and our schools. It’s a reflection of how we feel about our property taxes and the crushing need to lower the local tax burden, something we all care deeply about.
At least we say we do.
It’s surprising, then, that so few voters actually attend budget planning sessions, make an effort to vote at district budget meetings or ever call their city councilors or school directors to share their thoughts.
Electing officials to represent our interests doesn’t erase our civic responsibility to hold government accountable. So, if you really care about the school budget, get involved.
Or don’t complain.
jmeyer@sunjournal.com
The opinions expressed in this column reflect the views of the ownership and editorial board.
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