Governor Hochul's plan to hike tobacco taxes and ban flavored tobacco products is at the center of a battle between anti-cancer activists, bodega owners, tobacco-industry giants and Black leaders in Albany.
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2023.A plan to hike New York state’s cigarette tax and ban flavored tobacco products is caught in a battle between anti-cancer activists, bodega owners, tobacco-industry giants and Black leaders that will ultimately determine whether it ever sees the light of day., Gov. Kathy Hochul wants to increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1 to $5.35, which would surpass Washington, D.C. for the highest per-pack tax in the nation.
New York state has long had one of the country’s highest tobacco taxes, which state leaders and the American Lung Association say is an effective tool for discouraging young people from smoking. The tax is even higher in New York City, which tacks on $1.50 per pack at the local level. At a budget hearing earlier this month, state Tax Commissioner Amanda Hiller faced questions from Republican lawmakers about whether increasing the cigarette tax meant the state was willingly giving up revenue to the black market — particularly when people can buy cigarettes on Native American reservations or in other, lower-tax states and sell them in New York for a profit.
“It is unjust to expect communities of color to choose between greater public health protections and basic civil rights,” the Baptist Ministers Conference of Buffalo & Vicinity wrote in a letter to Hochul. “We do not accept the premise that we must choose between the two, that these interests are mutually exclusive, or that this debate is zero-sum.”
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