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Medical group rethinks tax stance

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The South Carolina Medical Association is discussing backing off its stance to increase the state cigarette tax by at least 93 cents, according to a proposed resolution that will be discussed today at the association's annual meetings at the Hilton Head Marriott Beach and Golf Resort.

In the face of continued opposition from the South Carolina General Assembly, the association's House of Delegates might adopt a plan to continue to advocate for a cigarette-tax rise but not declare a set amount.

"Although we strongly support a more significant increase, we have to look at what's going on in the legislature," said Bruce Snyder, a delegate from the Greenville County Medical Society, which formally will propose the change. "We have to be pragmatic and look at the practicality of it."

By dropping its formal position on a 93-cent increase, which was adopted in 2004, the flexibility of pushing for lesser tax increases could help lobbying initiatives, delegates said.

"Clearly (the legislature) has not been able to support any tax on cigarettes, not to mention a 93-cent tax," Snyder said. "And we have to be able to take what we can get. We can't continue to be locked into the rigidity of 93 cents."

The move comes after two bills calling for more modest cigarette-tax increases were killed in the state's House Ways and Means Committee last week.

One of the bills would have raised the state's lowest-in-the-nation 7-cent-per-pack cigarette tax to 37 cents in the first year, generating nearly $100 million for a new health and prevention fund. It called for the tax to be increased to 42 cents within two years.

The other bill would have raised the cigarette tax to 39 cents a pack and given the money to Medicaid programs.

The association, along with the American Cancer Society and the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative, has been pushing for the General Assembly to raise the state's cigarette tax to $1.

The medical association still will support a significant cigarette-tax hike, which its members say will help deter youths from starting smoking, help adults quit, improve the health of the state and reduce the rise in health-care costs.

The resolution will be reviewed by the Reference Committee on Legislative Activities and Public Relations today. It will be up for a full House of Delegates vote Sunday.

Contact Peter Frost at 706-8169 or . To comment on this story, please go to islandpacket.com.