State Wants to Tax Cigarettes, Again

The last time the legislature brought up taxing cigarettes was in 2006. Before that it was 2002. Now, a member of the state House wants to increase the tax by more than 80 cents a pack on cigarettes. Chris Kelly is a Democrat from Columbia and said yesterday that he’s calling for a statewide vote later that would up the tax from the current 17 cents a pack to 98 cents a pack. Kelly said that much tax could raise 425 million dollars for Missouri’s general fund.