CALL PHIL

Ask the Lt. Governor to
LET THE SENATE VOTE!!!

H.B. 1013 has been referred
to the Senate Public Health & Welfare and Finance Committees.

Call Phil Bryant and tell him to
let the process work.

His Chairmen should allow Senators to vote on a $1 cigarette tax increase and show their constituents how they stand on this important issue.

Call the Lt. Governor @ 601-359-3200
Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Tell Phil Bryant to ensure there is:
Ø No Pocket Veto by his Chairmen
Ø A Floor Vote by the full Senate on a $1 Cigarette Tax increase

HB 1013 passed the Mississippi House of Representatives and is now before the state Senate Public Health & Welfare and Finance Committees.The measure contains a $1.00 cigarette tax that would raise $174 million in new revenue. These additional resources will be used to fund Medicaid, a health care safety net for our children and elderly, and a trauma care system

Call Lt Governor Bryant and tell him Let the Senate Vote. All Senators should be given an opportunity to let their constituents know how they stand on this important issue. Committee chairman should not make this decision in isolation. Chairman should not pocket veto this bill by prohibiting their committee from voting. A vote by Senate committees is necessary and important to ensure that the democratic process works.

Call the Lt. Governor @ 601-359-3200

Latest on HB 1013

HB 1013 Referred to Senate Public Health and Welfare, Finance

After passing in the Mississippi House of Representatives by a 75-41 margin,
House Bill 1013 has been transmitted to the State Senate and doubly referred to the Senate Public Health & Welfare and Finance Committees. March 18 is the deadline for these committees to vote on bills originating from other chambers—which

The legislation is doubly referred because it encompasses both Medicaid and tax policy. The Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee is typically the initial clearinghouse in the State Senate on legislation concerning Mississippi’s Medicaid program. It also a custom that legislation in the Senate concerning tax policy is referred the Finance Committee. However, the committee allocation of all legislation in the Senate is the purview of the Lt. Governor—Phil Bryant.


Senator Hob Bryan of Amory chairs the Senate Public Health & Welfare while Senator Dean Kirby of Pearl is his counterpart in the Senate Finance Committee.


Public Health and Welfare Hob Bryan, Chairman; Alan Nunnelee, Vice-Chairman Members: Terry C. Burton; Eugene S. Clarke; Bob M. Dearing; Joey Fillingane; Hillman Terome Frazier; Billy Hewes III; W. Briggs Hopson III; John Horhn; Cindy Hyde-Smith; Gary Jackson; Kenneth Wayne Jones; Tom King; Chris McDaniel; Nolan Mettetal; Willie Simmons; Bennie L. Turner; Lee Yancey


Finance Dean Kirby, Chairman; Eugene S. Clarke, Vice-Chairman Members: Sidney Albritton; David Baria; Terry W. Brown; Nickey Browning; Hob Bryan; Kelvin E. Butler; Deborah Jeanne Dawkins; Tommy Dickerson; Joey Fillingane; Billy Hewes III; John Horhn; Robert L. Jackson; Kenneth Wayne Jones; David Jordan; Tom King; Chris McDaniel; Nolan Mettetal; Walter Michel; Eric Powell; Gray Tollison; Johnnie E. Walls, Jr.; Giles Ward; Michael Watson; Lee Yancey

WLBT Sound Off: Medicaid Funding

"So do we tax our local hospitals, who heal the sick or the out of state tobacco companies, who make us sick? I think we all know the right answer. " -- Dan Modisett, WLBT General Manager.

Click Here: Sound Off: Medicaid Funding

WDAM Cig Tax Editorial

Click Here: Editorial: Cigarette Tax

Role Call on HB 1013

Link to the vote: http://billstatus.ls.state.ms.us/2008/pdf/votes/house/0450006.pdf

House passes $1.00 cigarette tax increase

By Natalie Chandler • natalie.chandler@clarionledger.com • February 21, 2008

Seventy-four lawmakers supported House Bill 1013, while 42 opposed it. The bill needed 70 votes to pass. It now heads to the Senate for approval, but the legislation faces hurdles there.The state’s 18-cent cigarette tax is among the lowest in the nation. House Bill 1013 would raise it to $1.18. Medicaid needs millions of dollars to continue serving citizens. If funding is not found, cuts in services will be required, officials have said.GOP Gov. Haley Barbour wants to tax hospitals instead. But several House Democrats argued that tax would be passed on to patients.

Full Article: House passes cigarette tax hike bill

Call Your Representative Wednesday

Call your Representative Wednesday and ask
him/her to vote for House Bill 1013- a measure that increases the cigarette tax by $1.00

HB 1013 would increase Mississippi's cigarette tax by $1.00 with 90% of the revenue earmarked for Medicaid. The other 10% would help fund the state's trauma system. The legislation will be taken up by the full House of Representatives as early as Thursday.

A cigarette tax increase is a win, win for Mississippi. It would save lives and save money by leading to a reduction in youth smoking while supplying the state with a new revenue source to fund Medicaid.

We need your help!
It is important that lawmakers recognize that they are in Jackson to represent the interest of the people not the bottom line of BIG TOBACCO.

Contact your Representative @ (601) 359-3770
Ask your Representative to:
· Vote for a $1.00 Cigarette Tax Increase
· Oppose Any Effort to Reduce that Amount

This is an opportunity for you to directly affect the health and welfare of this state. Let your Legislators know why this issue is important to you.

Ways and Means passes cigarette tax bill to fund Medicaid

By SHELIA BYRD
Associated Press Writer

JACKSON, Miss. --The House Ways and Means Committee approved two pieces of legislation on Monday aimed at creating revenue sources for the Division of Medicaid and the state's struggling trauma care system.
Committee members heard from House Medicaid Chairman Dirk Dedeaux, D-Gulfport, who explained that one bill would increase the excise tax on cigarettes by $1.
Currently, Mississippi's cigarette excise tax is 18 cents - among the lowest in the nation. Gov. Haley Barbour has vetoed past cigarette tax legislation and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl, has said he won't consider any tax bills this year.
Dedeaux said the tax would generate about $174 million annually, based on figures from the Stennis Institute of Government at Mississippi State University. He said 90 percent of the revenue would be earmarked for Medicaid. The other 10 percent would go to the trauma system.
Lawmakers are searching for a revenue source for Medicaid because the health care program for the underprivileged is facing a $92 million deficit in the current fiscal year. And, Medicaid Executive Director Robert L. Robinson has told lawmakers the program will need an extra $168 million in funding for the fiscal year that begins July 1.

Ways and Means passes cigarette tax bill to fund Medicaid

CALL THESE MEMBERS OF WAYS AND MEANS

HB 1013 will now move to the House Ways and Means Committee, where it must pass before heading to the full House. Opponents of the Bill favor imposing a tax on hospitals- that would be directly passed on to patients- and cuts in services to cover the Medicaid shortfall. However, a $1.00 cigarette tax increase is a win, win for Mississippi. It would save lives and save money by leading to a reduction in youth smoking while supplying the state with a new revenue source to fund Medicaid.

In 2007, the 7 members of the House Ways and Means Committee listed below voted against legislation that would have increased Mississippi's cigarette tax.

Jim Ellington (601)857-0906 (H)
District 73 - Hinds
Mark Formby (601)798-8917 (H)
District 108 - Pearl River
Bobby B. Howell (662)262-7171 (H)
District 46 - Attala, Carroll, Grenada, Leflore, Montgomery
John L. Moore (601)825-5031 (H)
District 60 - Rankin, Simpson
Bobby Shows (601)477-9225 (H)
District 89 - Jones
Jeffrey C. Smith (662)327-0407 (H)
District 39 - Lowndes
Tommy L. Woods (662)838-6201 (H)
District 52 - DeSoto, Marshall

Contact these members of the House Ways and Means Committee over the weekend and ask them to vote for House Bill 1013 and allow the full House to
consider increasing the cigarette tax.

Or Call them at the Capitol on Monday @ (601) 359-3770

Movement in the House

CCBH would like to thank Chairman Dirk Dedeaux and the other members of the House Medicaid committee for voting in favor of House Bill 1013.
Thursday evening HB 1013 passed through the House Medicaid Committee without any dissent. The measure, sponsored by Rep. George Flaggs, would fund the Medicaid's deficit by increasing the cigarette tax by $1.00. During the committee meeting, Chairman Dirk Dedeaux stated that increasing the cigarette tax was a more favorable option to help fund Medicaid as opposed to imposing a tax on hospitals, which would likely be passed on to patients.

http://djournal.com/pages/story.asp?ID=265996&pub=1&div=News

Marshall Ramsey Cartoon on the cigarette tax.

Cigarette Tax Bills

SB2439%$
Tobacco and sales tax; increase excise tax on cigarettes, reduce sales tax on certain foods and revise certain diversion. 01/28 (S) Referred To Finance

Blount
Senate Bill 2439 is co-sponsored by Senators David Blount, David Baria, Eric Powell, Haskins Montgomery, Doug Davis, and Bill Stone. The legislation would increase the state’s cigarette by $1.00 while cutting the grocery tax in half. It has been referred to the Senate Finance Committee.




HB 20%$
Tobacco tax and sales tax; increase excise tax on cigarettes, reduce sales tax on certain food and revise diversion to municipalities. 01/21 (H) Referred To Ways and Means

Mayo

House Bill 20 is co- sponsored by Representatives Mayo, Clarke, Banks, Brown, Buck, Burnett, Evans (91st), Fredericks, Gardner, Hines, Holland, Holloway, Johnson, Lane, Reynolds, Robinson, Smith (27th), Straughter, Thomas, Watson, and Whittington. The legislation would increase the state’s cigarette to $1.00 while cutting the grocery tax in half. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

HB 22%$
Cigarettes; increase excise tax on. 01/21 (H) Referred To Ways and Means

Mayo
House Bill 22 is co-sponsored by Representatives Mayo, Clarke, Banks, Brown, Burnett, Evans (91st), Fredericks, Gardner, Hines, Holloway, Johnson, Lane, Reynolds, Robinson, Smith (27th), Straughter, Thomas, Watson, and Whittington. The legislation would increase the cigarette tax by $1.00, with the additional revenue to go the state’s general fund. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

HB 73%$
Cigarettes; increase excise tax on and earmark revenue from increase for certain purposes. 01/21 (H) Referred To Ways and Means

Flaggs
House Bill 73 is sponsored by Representative George Flaggs. The legislation would increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents, with the additional revenue earmarked towards healthcare expenditures. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

HB 209%$
Tobacco and sales tax; increase excise tax on cigarettes, reduce sales tax on certain food and revise diversion to municipalities. 01/24 (H) Referred To Ways and Means
House Bill 209 is sponsored by Representative Percy Watson. The legislation would increase the state’s cigarette to $1.00 while cutting the grocery tax in half. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.

HB 371%
Medicaid; bring forward laws for amendment, and increase excise tax on cigarettes. 01/29 (H) Referred To Medicaid;Ways and Means

Flaggs



HB1013%
Medicaid; bring forward laws for amendment, and increase excise tax on cigarettes. 02/04 (H) Referred To Medicaid;Ways and Means
House Bill 1013 is sponsored by Representative George Flaggs. The legislation would increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents, with the additional revenue earmarked towards healthcare expenditures. It has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee.