Editorial: Consider new tobacco revenue

Gov. Mark Dayton offered something new Wednesday as part of his latest offer to legislators.

According to a press release issued by ClearWay Minnesota (clearwaymn.org), an independent, nonprofit organization that aims to improve the health of all Minnesotans by reducing tobacco use and exposure to secondhand smoke, Dayton included a $1-per-pack cigarette price increase in his updated budget proposal. Unfortunately, Wednesday didn’t end well in St. Paul, and both Democrats and Republicans acknowledged that an extended government shutdown was a very real possibility.

According to estimates provided by ClearWay, a $1 price hike would generate $283 in new revenue this biennium. And it’s not just about the money: it would prevent 41,000 Minnesota youths “from becoming addicted adult smokers” and “avoid over 18,000 smoking-related deaths in the future.”

A public opinion poll recently conducted by Raise It for Health (raiseitforhealth.org), a coalition of Minnesota health and nonprofit organizations that share a common goal of reducing tobacco use, determined that nearly three of five Minnesotans support a tobacco price increase. Seventy percent of those supporters said they would favor a $1.50-per-pack increase. In turn, the Minnesota Department of Revenue said such an increase would bring nearly $400 million per biennium.

It should be stressed that increased tobacco prices aren’t just supported by a strictly anti-smoking crowd. The Associated Press reported Thursday that “a commission convened by former Vice President Walter Mondale and former Gov. Arne Carlson says Minnesota should raise cigarette, alcohol and income taxes” to end the shutdown.

We’d like nothing more to see the shutdown go up in smoke. Let’s hope our legislators are listening.