Post by Logan on Feb 12, 2016 19:12:42 GMT -6
Bill introduced to tax e-cigarettes to pay for rural health care
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill adding a tax to e-cigarettes that would be used to pay for rural health care needs was introduced Friday, but the sponsor acknowledges it will be a hard sell to the Legislature.
"It's an election year. It's going to be tough," the sponsor of HB333, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said.
Ray said his bill, which has not yet been assigned to a committee, would raise an estimated $10 million to $12 million annually from the sale of e-cigarettes by imposing an 86.5 percent tax on the manufacturer's price.
But he said he believes concerns lawmakers may have about supporting a tax increase will be offset by the impact higher prices can have on the growing number of young people in Utah vaping with the hand-held, battery-operated devices.
Read more: www.deseretnews.com/article/865647630/Bill-introduced-to-tax-e-cigarettes-to-pay-for-rural-health-care.html
SALT LAKE CITY — A bill adding a tax to e-cigarettes that would be used to pay for rural health care needs was introduced Friday, but the sponsor acknowledges it will be a hard sell to the Legislature.
"It's an election year. It's going to be tough," the sponsor of HB333, Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, said.
Ray said his bill, which has not yet been assigned to a committee, would raise an estimated $10 million to $12 million annually from the sale of e-cigarettes by imposing an 86.5 percent tax on the manufacturer's price.
But he said he believes concerns lawmakers may have about supporting a tax increase will be offset by the impact higher prices can have on the growing number of young people in Utah vaping with the hand-held, battery-operated devices.
Read more: www.deseretnews.com/article/865647630/Bill-introduced-to-tax-e-cigarettes-to-pay-for-rural-health-care.html