COLUMBIA - Legislators could raise the state's cigarette tax to $1 a pack and pick up votes this election year, according to a poll released Thursday by a coalition of groups opposed to smoking.
The poll of 500 likely voters gives cigarette tax increase supporters more hope than usual in the ongoing fight to generate money for health care programs and raise prices enough to discourage smoking among children.

The state's 7 cents a pack tax is the lowest in the nation.

South Carolina spends about $1 billion a year on cigarette-related health care needs and a 93-cent increase would generate $223 million to help offset costs, said Carol Reeves, president-elect of the South Carolina Tobacco Collaborative.

The state also loses 5,900 lives to smoking-related illnesses each year, she said. "It's a horrible toll and it will continue if we don't act against it and take a stand and be aggressive," Reeves said.

The Public Opinion Strategies poll was released as the Legislature prepares to send Gov. Mark Sanford a bill that raises penalties for store clerks who sell cigarettes to minors, limits locations for cigarette vending machines and makes it unlawful for minors to possess tobacco. Police would notify parents and minors would face a $25 fine or could be ordered to perform five hours of community service.

Higher tobacco prices also curb tobacco use, she said. "It is that simple, especially for young people," Reeves said.

Pollster Glen Bolger says 71 percent of the voters polled two days last month would support a tax increase of 93 cents a pack if the money was used for health care or smoking prevention.

The poll, which had a sampling error of 4.4 percentage points, shows strong "support for a significant increase in the cigarette tax to reduce youth smoking and fund important health programs."

"They'll support legislators who vote for the cigarette tax increase - and they're even willing to cross party lines to do so," Bolger said.

All 124 House members are up for re-election in November.

Bolger also found 51 percent of the voters said they would be more likely to support a candidate in favor of a cigarette tax increase while 31 percent said it made no difference.

Reeves and others say the poll could help persuade legislators to rethink their opposition.

"Voters in South Carolina are not going to punish lawmakers. In fact, they are going to be more likely to support them," Bolger said.

That could be a key issue in the Legislature, where many lawmakers signed the Americans for Tax Reform anti-tax increase pledge. Those legislators have repeatedly blocked efforts to raise the state's cigarette tax.

In the House, attitudes are changing and a higher cigarette tax "has its best chance in recent years to come out this year," said Rep. Doug Jennings, D-Bennettsville.

House Minority Leader Harry Ott, a St. Matthews farmer, has dropped his opposition to a tax increase.

House Speaker Bobby Harrell said he has not made up his mind on the issue.

But he wants any increase in tobacco taxes offset with a tax reduction elsewhere.

In the Senate, where procedural challenges and Lt. Gov. Andre Bauer have repeatedly scuttled past increase efforts, members say it is up to the House to act first.

The coalition's poll could "help move the ball a little," Sen. Joel Lourie, a Columbia Democrat and chief sponsor of the anti-smoking measure now bound for Sanford's desk.

The Legislature's ongoing property tax debate could easily sideline the issue, Lourie said.

But a projection released Wednesday shows the House's version of property tax cuts creates a $116.8 million hole in the fiscal 2008 budget. That means a cigarette tax increase "could be the lifeboat" for the homeowner tax break, Lourie said.