A proposed $1-per-pack hike in Indiana’s cigarette tax appears likely to fail for a second straight year.
The news dismays public health advocates, who say raising the tax would be among the most effective ways of lowering the state’s high smoking rate and improving its health ranking.
Last year, legislation died after former Gov. Mike Pence and the GOP-controlled Senate opposed it. This year, it’s new Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb and the Senate opposing an increase pushed by House Republicans.
More than half of U.S. states have increased their cigarette taxes in the past 10 years, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids. But in Indiana, where more than 20 percent of adults say they smoke, lawmakers haven’t touched the current 99-cent a pack tax since 2007.