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Cigarette 'User Fee' Considered

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By MIKE SALINERO

msalinero@tampatrib.com

Published: March 10, 2009

TALLAHASSEE - Lawmakers might raise the cost of a pack of cigarettes by as much as a dollar this year - but don't accuse them of raising "taxes."

Instead, according to a House bill now being considered, they'll be raising the "user fee" charged to smokers.

House Bill 11 would strike the word "tax" in the state law covering tobacco and replace it with the softer sounding "user fee."

The semantic summersault would make it easier for lawmakers to support the increase without having to say they voted to raise taxes.

"I think that's a more acceptable terminology for Republicans than the word tax," said Democrat Bill Heller of St. Petersburg, a co-sponsor."It is a voluntary use product."
Legislators in both parties have suggested raising the cigarette tax to pay for medical programs that have been cut because of declining state revenue. Part of the money from House Bill 11 would go to the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer and Research Center in Tampa.

Currently, the state cigarette tax is 33.9 cents a pack.

Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, said he considers the cigarette tax a user fee.

"When they get ill due to the tobacco products they're using, they will be coming back to the taxpayers for their medical needs," Fasano said.

Reporter Mike Salinero can be reached at (813) 259-8303.

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