With less than three weeks until Election Day, Proposition B is building momentum and gaining support.
We need you to help your neighbors, friends and family understand how
important their yes vote for Prop B is for our kids’ future and the future of our state. By increasing the tax to $.90 per pack on cigarettes (a 73 cent increase) and increasing the tax on other tobacco products, the proposed ballot initiative will generate at least $283 million in new revenue for education and health services for
Missourians.
Prop B includes important safeguards to ensure that revenue is spent as
voters intend, including regular public audits and ballot language that
ensures that this money will add to existing funding. Prop B also
establishes the Health and Education Trust Fund so that revenue goes
directly to education and tobacco prevention/cessation.
At 17 cents a pack, Missouri’s cigarette tax is dead last among the 50
states and the District of Columbia. That’s embarrassing. And
foolish. A state that can’t afford to adequately fund schools and services is subsidizing an expensive habit with the nation’s lowest tobacco tax.
Amy Blouin
Missouri Budget Project