Sarasota is the latest county government to go tobacco free for county employees. All new hires will have to be tobacco free for a year prior to their start date and be willing to undergo tobacco screenings. According to Jim Ley, Sarasota County’s administrator, this change in hiring policy will save Sarasota taxpayer’s about $2.5 million in lost productivity and extra health-care costs.1 And that’s just for one county’s employees! Just think what that number must be statewide…
The CDC estimates that smoking related illnesses cost Americans more than $75 billion a year 2. The total medical costs for smoke-related diseases are over $6 billion a year in Florida 3. Production losses are also about $6 billion a year in Florida 2. Smokers have absenteeism rates that are about 34 percent higher than nonsmokers. 1 In a 2005 study it was found that the time men and women spent taking smoke breaks added up to nine days per year and six days per year, respectively.4 It would make sense that those numbers have increased since the majority of workers are no longer allowed to smoke indoors, thus having to leave their office or workspace to light up.
Florida is in the midst of a very serious economic downturn. The Florida housing slump is one of the worst in the country and only appears to be getting worse. Florida’s budget gap is 19.9% or $5.1 billion. The $66 billion Florida budget for the coming year is about $6 billion less than the previous year. It includes a $332 million reduction in public school spending and cuts to state hospitals, nursing homes, and various social programs.5Across the state, cuts are being made to various youth & outreach programs and even the law enforcement agencies are feeling the pinch. Some have been forced to cut preventative efforts such as special task forces and crime suppression units. As the current economic crisis drags on, burglary and other petty crimes will continue to increase and some communities will not have enough resources or manpower to effectively deal with the problem because of budget shortfalls.
Governor Crist said after meeting with state economists that he would ask lawmakers to tap into state reserves and a tobacco settlement trust fund to make up for the latest in a series of revenue shortfalls. The Legislature, anticipating the state's economic outlook might continue on its downward trend, passed a law letting Governor Crist seek approval from a special legislative panel to transfer money from state reserves and the Lawton Chiles Endowment Fund. The endowment fund invests the state’s tobacco lawsuit money for future use on health and children's programs. The law, if passed, would make up to $1 billion available from the Chiles fund, and $672 million from the budget reserve fund.6 What happens when another major hurricane hits Florida after our reserves have been squandered by Tallahassee?
Instead of raiding an important endowment fund and depleting the states reserves, doesn’t it make sense to bring more revenue into the tax system. Sales taxes are the biggest single component of general revenue!6 Florida sells more cigarettes than any other state7 and when Florida raised the tax in 1990, the states take was 25% of the cost per pack. Now it’s less than 10%.8 In a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies, seventy-one percent of the 600 Florida voters surveyed said the state's 34-cent-a-pack tax is too low. Texas and South Dakota both increased their cigarette taxes by $1 a pack last year.
Senator Ted Deutch, sponsored a bill (SB 2790) that would raise the state’s cigarette sales tax by $1.00 per pack. The cigarette tax has Republican co-sponsors in both chambers and endorsement from the Senate Health Policy Committee.Supporters argue that the tax increase would not only reduce teen smoking but also generate an estimated $1 billion annually to offset some looming cuts in state health-care expenditures. The cigarette-tax bill dedicates more than half the expected $1 billion in revenue to various health-care programs, including various medically needy programs and Florida's KidCare plan that covers uninsured children. The rest would go into the state's general-revenue fund.
Each year in Florida 26,300 kids under 18 become new daily smokers9 28.8 million packs of cigarettes are bought or smoked by kids each year in Florida10 Based on what happened when other states raised cigarette taxes, Florida's $1 increase could prompt nearly a fifth of all teen smokers to quit, advocates contend. "Every time a state has increased the tobacco tax, smoking rates have dropped," Don Webster, chief executive officer of the American Cancer Society's Florida division, said. "There's no question it'll save lives."
For every 10 percent increase in cigarette prices, cigarette use is lowered by three to five percent.11
The 2000 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report, “Reducing Tobacco Use,” found that increasing the price of tobacco products would decrease the prevalence of tobacco use, particularly among kids and young adults, and that tobacco tax increases would lead to “substantial long-term improvements in health.” From its review of existing research, the report concluded that raising tobacco taxes is one of the most effective tobacco-use prevention and control strategies. Senator Jeremy Ring, D-Broward County who co-sponsored the bill states "I see a cigarette tax as an absolute win-win. Any time we can try to get new revenue and at the same time try to halt people from smoking, to me it's an absolute no-brainer."12 Republican Senator Victor Crist voted for the bill because the added revenue would help "those who have smoked recover from the illnesses they have contrived from smoking."13
Even with all this support, Governor Crist opposed the bill and shot it down immediately. The opposition is asking why 20% (smokers) should bear the whole burden of the tax. The correct question is why should 80% of Floridians pay for the actions of 20% of us? It makes no sense for all Floridians to share the financial burden of cigarette smoking. It’s like changing the gas tax to a flat rate per person, so that a pre-school teacher would pay the same tax as an independent trucker that uses significantly more fuel. Why would the Governor take the side of the minority who are causing the problem rather than the majority of the Floridians he has taken an oath to serve?
If enough voices unite, they will be heard in Tallahassee!
