Tobacco Tax

The Maryland General Assembly is leaving one of its toughest decisions for its final days. Legislative leaders want to give millions of dollars more to public schools before facing voters this fall, and they generally agree that the cash should come from smokers. They increasingly are talking about raising the tobacco tax, a prospect that appeared unlikely when the Assembly session began 11 weeks ago. But what on the surface seems a straightforward decision - raising the per-pack tax by 34 cents or more and devoting some or all of the $100 million to education - is complicated by sharp differences between House and Senate leaders over how to distribute the money.

The Maryland Senate's budget-writing committee endorsed nearly $460 million in cuts to a proposed state spending plan yesterday, removing millions from environmental and higher education programs against the wishes of Gov. Parris N. Glendening. During a marathon weekend work session that laid the foundation for the General Assembly's toughest task of the year, legislators reversed Glendening's call to cancel the final 2-percent stage of a five-year, 10 per- cent income tax cut. The cut would provide an average family with about $75, and would cost the state about $177 million in revenue over the next 15 months.

Better ways to treat, identify breast cancer are long overdue I agree with Dr. Neil B. Friedman that mammography often picks up breast cancer at an early stage and questionable research should not be the basis for screening guidelines ("Many saved lives proclaim value of mammograms," Opinion Commentary, Feb. 22, and "Mammogram lacks better option," Feb. 28). However, he did not mention that very little is known about the earliest stage of breast cancer (DCIS) -- and if and how it should be treated.

Maryland legislators are looking with renewed interest at increasing the state's tax on cigarettes, saying it could provide additional funding for public schools or offset revenue shortfalls. "People are in favor of a tobacco tax because it's a user fee," said Sen. Barbara A. Hoffman, a Baltimore Democrat and chairwoman of the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee. "We did it once before, and if you look at our financial situation, you have to be willing to look at everything." Legislation under consideration by the Assembly would raise Maryland's cigarette tax 70 cents per pack, increasing the per-pack tax from 66 cents to $1.36 - almost the highest in the nation.

Some state lawmakers want to more than double Maryland's cigarette tax as part of a continued effort to reduce smoking and to generate as much as $200 million in revenue. Under the legislation introduced last night by Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr., the cigarette tax would increase from 66 cents to $1.36, the first since legislators passed a 30-cent increase in 1999. But that tax increase was led by Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who promised not to push for further increases in the tobacco tax after that.

Anti-smoking groups launched a State House lobbying effort yesterday to win a 70-cent per pack increase in the state's tax on cigarettes next year, a move that would give Maryland the highest such tax in the nation. Advocates said the increase, which would be the second in three years, would drive down smoking rates and raise an estimated $200 million in annual revenue. Gov. Parris N. Glendening proposed a $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax in 1999 but was able to win only a 30-cent boost from the General Assembly, pushing the state tax to 66 cents a pack.

SINCE THE LATE 1980s, advocates for public health have employed increasingly sophisticated tactics for advancing public policy. Whether petitioning that a public health measure be made a ballot initiative or using litigation to reform a rogue industry, public health leaders have been making progress on issues where lawmakers have been reluctant to act. In states such as Maryland, where no ballot initiative exists, voter education is a tool that can...

Maryland cigarette sales have dropped by 16 percent since last year, the sharpest drop in at least two decades and evidence that last year's tax increase is prompting some smokers to quit. Health advocates and Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who combined forces to push the 30-cents-a-pack increase through the General Assembly last year, said the sales figures vindicate their claim that higher cigarette taxes are good for public health. "It looks like we're clearly headed in the right direction," said Glendening, who initially sought a $1-a-pack increase.

WHEN THE GREAT legislative smoking war ended dramatically one month ago with a 30-cents-a-pack tax increase, generals on both sides conceded a certain battle fatigue, a weariness sufficient to keep them off the field for a year.Sen. Christopher Van Hollen Jr., a Montgomery Democrat who leads the Senate tax proponents, said he would probably do some regrouping next year. Gov. Parris N. Glendening, who used the power of pork in his failed effort to win votes for a $1-a-pack tax increase proposal, might be inclined to rest a year as well.

MARYLAND'S 188 state legislators can head for home today knowing that they tackled some complex issues during their 90-day gathering.That doesn't usually happen in the first session following statewide elections. Fifteen percent of the senators and 21 percent of the delegates were freshmen unfamiliar with the ways of Annapolis. It took strong, determined leadership by General Assembly veterans to give this session unity.On the biggest issue, electric deregulation, leaders overrode objections from the governor, environmentalists and consumer advocates to approve a bill allowing both residential customers and businesses to pick their electricity suppliers.