COLUMBUS, Ohio (Feb. 10, 2010) – Today, a coalition of health groups released a poll that shows voters overwhelmingly support cigarette taxes and choose cigarette-tax increases easily more so than other ways to balance the state budget. The poll, sponsored by the American Heart Association, American Lung Association, American Cancer Society and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, shows that while a cigarette tax was favored, few voters supported other ways of balancing the state budget. The poll found:
- 64% supported increasing the cigarette tax
- 35% supported across the board cuts to state services
- 32% supported increasing the state sales tax
- 25% supported increasing the state income tax
- 27% supported cutting funding for health-care programs
The poll found that an increase in the cigarette tax has strong bipartisan support with backing from large majorities of Republicans (65.8 percent), Democrats (65.8 percent) and Independents (61.8 percent).
“Voters overwhelmingly prefer cigarette-tax increases rather than other methods of decreasing Ohio’s budget deficit,” said Shelly Kiser, director of advocacy for the American Lung Association in Ohio. “Our lawmakers need to listen to the voice of their constituents and choose the one tax that saves lives.”
The coalition released its poll at the same time that its national organizations released a national report about cigarette taxes. The report comes as states grapple with unprecedented budget shortfalls and face devastating cuts to education, health care and other essential public services. The report details the revenue and health benefits to each state of a $1 cigarette tax increase. The current cigarette tax in Ohio is $1.25 per pack.
“With Ohio facing a multi-billion dollar deficit, it’s important that lawmakers look to multi-faceted solutions like the cigarette tax,” said Cresha Auck-Foley, director of advocacy for Ohio, American Heart Association, Great Rivers Affiliate. “It provides a stable revenue and reduces health-care costs – another drain on the state budget, while reducing the No. 1 cause of preventable death in Ohio.”
In Ohio, a $1 cigarette-tax increase would also:
- Prevent 109,000 kids from becoming smokers
- Spur 52,600 current adult smokers to quit
- Save 48,800 residents from premature, smoking-caused deaths
- Save $2.4 billion in health-care costs
“Taxation on cigarette products is universally recognized as an effective way to reduce tobacco use,” said John Hoctor, chief government-relations officer for the American Cancer Society. “Increasing the cigarette tax will allow us to continue working toward a goal that will save lives, reduce health-care costs and improve the financial health of our state.”
A nationwide poll released along with the report found that 67 percent of voters support a $1 tobacco-tax increase,
“This report shows that raising tobacco taxes is truly a win-win-win for Ohio. It is a budget win that will help protect vital programs like health care and education, a health win that will save lives and prevent kids from smoking, and a political win with the voters,” said Beverly May, director of the Western States and Ohio, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
The report was released by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. It is titled “Tobacco Taxes: A Win-Win-Win for Cash-Strapped States.”
Tobacco use is the No. 1 cause of preventable death in the United States. In Ohio, tobacco use claims 18,500 lives and costs the state $4.37 billion in health-care bills each year. Currently, 19.4 percent of the state’s high-school students smoke, and each year, 63,900 kids try cigarettes for the first time.
The Ohio survey of 808 registered voters was conducted from Jan. 24-27, 2010, by Fallon Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.44 percentage points.
The national survey of 847 registered voters was conducted from Jan. 20-24, 2010, by International Communications Research and has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.4 percentage points. More information, including the full report, state-specific information and detailed poll results, can be found at www.tobaccofreekids.org/winwinwin.
Posts
One Response to "Ohio Poll Finds Voters Prefer Tobacco Tax to Other Tax Increases, Budget Cuts"