SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 70
Relating to an increase in the tax upon the sale of cigarettes and upon the sale of tobacco products other than cigarettes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF MISSOURI, AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, inappropriate use of tobacco is creating a health care crisis in Missouri due to the fact that it is the number one preventable cause of diseases with an overall health care cost, directly and indirectly, to the citizens of Missouri of approximately $4 billion; and
WHEREAS, cigarette smoking among adults in Missouri is 5% above the national median with 31.7% of men and 26% of women currently claimed as smokers; and
WHEREAS, the average annual deaths in Missouri related to smoking from 1990 to 1994 were 9,960, making Missouri 14th in smoking-related deaths; and
WHEREAS, the average medical costs related to smoking in Missouri include $380,820,000 for hospital care, $318,760,000 for nursing home care, and $66,410,000 for prescription drugs and an average of 13.6 years of an individual's life are lost due to smoking; and
WHEREAS, 32.8% of Missouri's high school students are already regular smokers, supporting the projection that 119,057 Missouri youth will die prematurely as a result of smoking; and
WHEREAS, a National Cancer Institute Expert Panel reported in 1993 that a substantial increase in tobacco excise taxes may be the single most effective measure for decreasing tobacco consumption; and
WHEREAS, Missouri is ranked 40th in the nation for the amount of excise taxes charged on tobacco sales and in comparing the trends in cigarette prices and overall consumption throughout the nation, there is a strong correlation between increasing prices and decreasing consumption:
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the members of the Senate of the Ninety-first General Assembly, Second Regular Session, the House of Representatives concurring therein, hereby approve a tax in addition to the taxes imposed in sections 149.015 and 149.082, RSMo, upon the sale of cigarettes in the amount of thirty-seven and one-half mills per cigarette and also approve a tax in addition to the taxes imposed in section 149.160, RSMo, upon the sale of each tobacco product other than cigarettes at the rate of ten percent of the manufacturer's invoice price before discounts and deals for tobacco products other than cigarettes; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that such additional tax revenues shall be credited to a Fund for Lifelong Health for the purpose of funding elderly pharmaceutical assistance programs, for use in comprehensive tobacco cessation, education, treatment programs, core public health funding, including health care and health care services, rural health initiatives, health care practitioner reimbursement, grants for the innovative development of health care delivery, life sciences research, and for Missouri land grant institutions with medical schools for the purpose of discovering, developing, and perfecting new and current technologies in the medical sciences; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that this resolution be sent to the Governor for his approval or rejection pursuant to the Missouri Constitution.