"TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Smokers will pay an additional $1 tax on a pack of cigarettes under one of 65 new state laws going into effect Wednesday, including a $66.5 billion budget.
Florida's previous 34-cents-a-pack cigarette tax was among the nation's lowest. It's going up to $1.34 through what's called a "surcharge" in the Protecting Florida's Health Act. The law also increases a 25 percent tax on the wholesale price of other tobacco products except for cigars, which are exempt, to 60 percent.
That's on top of higher federal tobacco taxes consumers began paying April 1. Cigarettes went up by 62 cents a pack, bringing the federal tax to $1.01. The federal tax also increased from 5 to 40 cents on large cigars and a bit less for smaller ones.
Besides raising more than $900 million a year for health care, sponsors say they hope Florida's higher tobacco taxes will encourage smokers to kick their often fatal habit and discourage young people from taking it up.
Smoker Sandy Milton said it may be just the extra push she needs to stop.
"If I don't quit any time soon, this habit is going to break my pocketbook," Milton said while eating at Arbetter's Hot Dogs in Miami last week.
Milton wouldn't give her age but said she began smoking before cigarette packs had warning labels. She supports the tax as a way to keep kids from smoking, but said they "are not using their brains" if they don't think it's bad for them.
Grisel Suarez, 52, said she may not quit but probably will cut down from a pack a day of Benson & Hedges to one every two or three days. She was unhappy but philosophical about the increase.
"It's like I'm being penalized," Suarez said at a Cuban bakery she owns in Miami. "People who like to dance will pay the high prices to get into clubs. Other people who like to buy expensive things will pay to have it. I enjoy smoking, so I know I will keep paying for it."
The higher tobacco tax is one of several new revenue sources needed to pay for the $66.5 billion in spending during the budget year beginning Wednesday."
Florida's previous 34-cents-a-pack cigarette tax was among the nation's lowest. It's going up to $1.34 through what's called a "surcharge" in the Protecting Florida's Health Act. The law also increases a 25 percent tax on the wholesale price of other tobacco products except for cigars, which are exempt, to 60 percent.
That's on top of higher federal tobacco taxes consumers began paying April 1. Cigarettes went up by 62 cents a pack, bringing the federal tax to $1.01. The federal tax also increased from 5 to 40 cents on large cigars and a bit less for smaller ones.
Besides raising more than $900 million a year for health care, sponsors say they hope Florida's higher tobacco taxes will encourage smokers to kick their often fatal habit and discourage young people from taking it up.
Smoker Sandy Milton said it may be just the extra push she needs to stop.
"If I don't quit any time soon, this habit is going to break my pocketbook," Milton said while eating at Arbetter's Hot Dogs in Miami last week.
Milton wouldn't give her age but said she began smoking before cigarette packs had warning labels. She supports the tax as a way to keep kids from smoking, but said they "are not using their brains" if they don't think it's bad for them.
Grisel Suarez, 52, said she may not quit but probably will cut down from a pack a day of Benson & Hedges to one every two or three days. She was unhappy but philosophical about the increase.
"It's like I'm being penalized," Suarez said at a Cuban bakery she owns in Miami. "People who like to dance will pay the high prices to get into clubs. Other people who like to buy expensive things will pay to have it. I enjoy smoking, so I know I will keep paying for it."
The higher tobacco tax is one of several new revenue sources needed to pay for the $66.5 billion in spending during the budget year beginning Wednesday."
