COLUMBIA--North Carolina's move to raise its cigarette tax will leave the Palmetto State with the lowest tobacco tax in the nation and once again light up debate when South Carolina lawmakers return to the Statehouse in January.

North Carolina Gov. Mike Easley has signed into law a plan to increase that state's 5-cents-a-pack tax to 30 cents starting Sept. 1. The tax will increase to 35 cents in July 2006.

That makes South Carolina's 7-cents-a-pack tax the nation's lowest and 25 cents below the Southeastern average of 32 cents a pack.

Rep. Rex Rice, R-Easley, who has led the effort in the South Carolina House to increase the tax, said North Carolina's decision gives political cover to other lawmakers concerned about raising the tax. With South Carolina's tax so low, comparatively, an adjustment is possible, he said.

Proposals have ranged from raising the per-pack tax from 25 cents to 93 cents.

Rice has tried unsuccessfully for several years to get a cigarette tax increase approved. In 2002 and 2003, when the state was facing a budget shortfall of several hundred million dollars, lawmakers considered using new taxes on tobacco to help pay for the state's Medicaid program.

Now, with the state looking forward to budget surpluses, Rice and others said finding support for a tax increase could be difficult.

But anti-smoking organizations, including the American Cancer Society and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, say the issue is becoming more important.

Tobacco-Free Kids said it costs South Carolina more than $1 billion a year to pay for health care costs related to smoking. More than $360 million of that cost comes through Medicaid, state-sponsored health care for the poor, elderly and disabled.

The Smokers Club Inc., an organization that supports smokers' rights, said South Carolina tobacco users already pay more than $170 million in sales and tobacco taxes and other fees.

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