Supporters of increasing the state's cigarette tax were encouraged Thursday by a vote in a House Ways and Means subcommittee to approve two bills that would hike the tax.

"It's very encouraging that we're going to get this thing passed," said Terry Taylor, tobacco program coordinator for Greenville Family Partnership. "We're getting further than ever before."

House bill 4850, sponsored by Rep. Paul Agnew, D-Abbeville, would raise the tax by 32 cents and bill 4888, cosponsored by Agnew and Rep. Rex Rice, R-Pickens, would mean a 30-cent hike plus 5 cents more in each of the next two years for a total of 40 cents.

At 7 cents per pack, South Carolina's cigarette tax is the lowest in the nation. The national average is 92 cents per pack.

Seven out of 10 South Carolina voters support a higher cigarette tax, according to the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative, which has been pushing for the hike. Advocates say higher cigarette taxes have been proven to prevent children from taking up the habit in the first place and to induce some smokers to quit.

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"Cigarette tax increases are proven to save lives. The higher the tax, the more lives saved," Renee Martin, Executive Director of the collaborative, said in a release, adding it's the first time cigarette tax bills were approved by a subcommittee as freestanding bills.

The 32-cent tax bill would set up a health insurance fund for small businesses and working families. The other bill earmarks 4 percent of the tax for youth smoking prevention and cessation. It included an amendment passed Thursday that would also allocate some of the revenue as an income tax offset, Martin said.

The measures now head to the full House Ways and Means Committee.