Questions: Washington’s cig tax still would be much higher…

Rep. Dick Harwood, R-St. Maries, asked the American Cancer Society’s Heidi Low how the cigarette tax increase bill could anticipate a $50.5 million increase in revenue to the state if fewer people would smoke. “That’s actually a very conservative estimate,” Low said. If the estimate didn’t take into account the number of people who would quit, she said, it’d be 30 percent higher.

Harwood also said he’s heard from a convenience store owner in Oldtown, Idaho whose customers come from the state of Washington to buy cigarettes. “He thinks he’ll lose 90 percent of his business,” Harwood said, if Idaho’s tax becomes equal to Washington’s. Low said even after the increase, Washington’s tax would be far higher than Idaho’s, and Washington is considering another dollar hike. If that passes, she said, “They would still be $2 over.”