A Pennsylvania tax idea goes up in smoke

Tuesday, September 15 2009

By Mario F. Cattabiani and Amy Worden
Inquirer Harrisburg Bureau (philly.com)

HARRISBURG - When it came to raising new sources of desperately needed revenue, stogies and chaw appeared to be the lowest-hanging fruit.

Every other state imposes excise taxes on smokeless tobacco, and all but one other - Florida - do so on cigars. And the idea was widely popular in the Keystone State, public-opinion polls showed.

So how did the ripe-for-the-picking products avoid being affected by the cornucopia of taxes that top lawmakers announced last week would balance the state budget?

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