Tobacco Tax Has Good Chance of Passing
Guam - Senator Frank Aguon Jr. has reported the tobacco tax bill or bill 150 out of committee.
This means the bill is ready to hit the session floor. The measure would double the tax on a pack of cigarettes and more than double the amount on chewing tobacco.
Vice-speaker BJ Cruz is referring to his tobacco tax bill or bill 150 which would double the amount of tobacco tax on cigarettes. This would raise the tax on cigarettes by a dollar. The measure was just reported out of committee with the recommendation to remove the requirement that the tax be raised through a voter referendum. This means it will be up to the senators to decide if taxes will be raised
on tobacco and by how much. The Vice-Speaker believes the bill has more than enough support to pass. In fact Vice-Speaker Cruz says that it's very likely that the taxes might be even be raised once on the session floor by 3-5 dollars.
This would mean some packs of cigarettes could cost nearly $9 dollars a pack. Cruz says other recommendations from the committee include ideas on how to spend the additional taxes that are collected. One recommendation is to use the money to educate young people about the dangers of tobacco products and the other is to create a sort of trust fund to be used by families with emergency medical situations caused by tobacco use.
