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Last Updated: Aug 30th, 2007 - 09:12:50 |
Tobacco interests want to block Ore. cigarette tax vote
Aug 30, 2007, 09:00
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SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Tobacco interests have gone to court in a bid to block a statewide vote this fall on a cigarette tax increase to pay for children's health insurance. A lawsuit filed in Marion County Circuit Court this week maintains that Measure 50, which would boost the cigarette tax by 84.5 cents a pack, violates the state constitution in several ways. Among other things, the lawsuit says the measure makes three "unrelated" changes to the constitution with separate taxes on cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products such as smokeless tobacco. It also says the measure is "an unprecedented and unconstitutional gambit" to get around the requirement that tax increases be approved by three-fifths majorities of the House and Senate. The Democratic-controlled Legislature placed the cigarette tax on the Nov. 6 ballot as a constitutional amendment after lawmakers couldn't muster enough GOP votes to enact it outright. The lawsuit was filed by Portland lawyer James Dumas on behalf of state Sen. Jeff Kruse, R-Roseburg, and a group of tobacco users and retailers. Dumas, who defended tobacco maker Philip Morris in a lawsuit over the 1999 death of a Salem woman, has asked the Marion County court for an expedited hearing of the Measure 50 challenge. Cathy Kaufman, a spokeswoman for Healthy Kids Oregon, a group that is advocating for the passage of the cigarette tax, dismissed the lawsuit as, "further proof that big tobacco will do anything, say anything and pay anything to protect their profits even if it is at the expense of Oregon's kids." Kaufman said tobacco companies have gone to court in at least five states since 2001 to block tobacco-related measures, and that none of those attempts had been successful. Lisa Gilliam, a spokesman for a group called Stop the Measure 50 Tax that's being primarily funded by Philip Morris, said her organization, "agrees with the basic tenets of the lawsuit." "We believe the measure is flawed, and sets a dangerous constitutional precedent," she said. The cigarette tax hike, which is strongly backed by Democratic Gov. Ted Kulongoski, would raise an estimated $153 million for the current two-year budget, most of it to provide health care for more than 100,000 Oregon children. Opponents said measure is unfair to smokers and it's inappropriate to write such a tax into the state constitution.
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