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Poll shows support for raising cigarette tax
71 percent in health groups’ survey say they would back move
From Staff and Wire Reports
YOUR GENERAL ASSEMBLY
Health advocacy groups pushing to raise the state’s cigarette tax delivered to the State House on Thursday a public opinion poll they say supports their effort.
The poll found 71 percent of South Carolina voters support raising the state’s lowest-in-the-nation cigarette tax by up to 93 cents a pack.
The survey for the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative and the S.C. Hospital Association asked 500 likely voters if they would support the cigarette tax increase if the money went to a program to reduce tobacco use and to fund Medicaid and health care programs.
The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.38 percent and was conducted by Public Opinion Strategies of Virginia, a leading Republican polling firm.
It found half of voters are more likely to support a candidate who favors increasing the cigarette tax, which is currently 7 cents a pack.
Seventy percent of Republicans, 77 percent of Democrats and 56 percent of independents supported the increase, the poll found.
In other news:
• Charter crosses back. The House stuck with its original version of a bill creating a first-in-the-nation charter public school district. The move sends the measure back to the Senate.
Senators are likely to decide next week whether to approve the House version or insist upon their own, sending the bill to conference committee.
Key differences include what type of state board would approve new charters and how advisory board members would be appointed.
• Force bill passed. The House passed a bill that lets residents use deadly force to defend their homes, business and vehicles against attackers without fear of prosecution or suits.
The House unanimously approved the measure, dubbed the “Protection of Persons and Property Act,” and sent it to the Senate. The proposal would put into law what’s precedent through court cases and expands what’s defendable to include businesses and vehicles.
