By Rebecca Cook
Associated Press
SEATTLE – Voters in Washington decided today to raise tobacco taxes, making cigarettes more expensive here than anywhere else in the country.
Initiative 773 would add 60 cents in tax to every pack of cigarettes, or $6 in taxes to every carton.
The measure was passing with 64 percent of the vote, with about a quarter of the votes counted.
Sponsors of the initiative married an unpopular target, tobacco companies, to a popular cause – health care for poor families. The tobacco tax would raise about $135 million a year to start, and would pay for expanded enrollment in the state’s health plan.
“Anything that’ll put a stop to tobacco use, I’m for,” Dee Walker of Bothell said after voting for the initiative.
In other states, ballot measures to raise tobacco taxes have faced multimillion dollar “no” campaigns funded by the tobacco industry. But that didn’t happen in Washington, where tobacco companies were strangely silent on I-773.
Hospitals, HMOs and such groups as the American Cancer Society contributed more than $1.7 million to support the measure. They bought 30-second TV ads in major markets and touted statistics showing that teens and pregnant women are less likely to smoke when cigarette prices increase.
Initiative opponents were overwhelmed and underfunded. Led by contributions from Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, they raised about $214,000, which bought some direct mailings and 10-second radio ads.
That’s not how it happened in other states.
In California, tobacco companies contributed $28.5 million in 1998 to oppose Proposition 10, which added 50 cents in tax to cigarette packs. They outspent the proponents 3-to-1. And they lost, by less than 1 percent.
During Washington’s initiative drive, spokespeople for Philip Morris, the country’s No. 1 cigarette maker, kept mum about their campaign strategy – or lack thereof. Today, company spokesman Brendan McCormick said the company’s decision to spend less than $100,000 on the race was a “conscious decision.” But he would not say why the company spent relatively little in the state.
A small, grass-roots campaign against I-773 was formed. Small retailers worried about the hit to their businesses, especially those located near the borders with Oregon and Idaho, where cigarette taxes are lower. People concerned about taxing the poor, who are more likely to smoke, and those worried about increased cigarette smuggling struggled to get their point across to distracted voters.
Copyright ©2001 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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