MS Lawmakers Debate Cigarette Tax Increase

The House wants to raise it by 82 cents a pack. Wednesday, the Senate Finance Committee voted to raise it from 18 cents to 49 cents a pack.

By: Jamie Burch | WKRG-TV
Published: January 28, 2009

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JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - The Mississippi Senate Finance Committee
has voted to set the cigarette tax at 49 cents a pack, matching the
average of the surrounding states.
Mississippi's current tax is 18 cents a pack. The House voted
this month to increase it to $1 a pack.
The committee vote on Wednesday is just a step toward getting a
bill to the governor's desk. The full Senate could debate the bill
in the next few days, and Finance Committee chairman Dean Kirby
believes it will pass there.
Kirby, R-Pearl, says he expects the House and Senate to
negotiate a final amount.
The Senate proposes using new cigarette tax revenue to head off
an increase in car tag prices before July 1.
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The bill is House Bill 364.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)