Proposed tax increases, cuts do poorly around country

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Statewide referenda on tax increases didn't fare too well around the country in last week's election, but neither did ballot proposals to cut taxes.

Voters in five states, including Missouri, considered measures to raise taxes. All but one of those efforts failed. Tax-reduction proposals appeared on ballots in three states. Again, only one such measure was adopted.

The results from the tax votes were compiled by the National Conference of State Legislatures in Denver which tracked the 203 statewide referenda on the Nov. 5 ballots in most states.

While 77 of those proposals involved revenue-related subjects, most were bond issues or technical changes in state constitutions or statutes. Voters in only a few states considered tax increases or cuts.

In Missouri, voters narrowly shot down Proposition A, which would have generated $342 million a year for health care programs by raising the excise tax on cigarettes from 17 cents to 72 cents per pack, as well as increasing the levy on other tobacco products. The proposal failed with 50.9 percent opposition.

Arizona was the only other state with a tobacco tax on the Nov. 5 ballot. Voters there agreed to raise the state cigarette tax from 58 cents to $1.18 per pack. Most of the money will be earmarked for health care.

Another effort to fund health care failed in Oregon. The proposal called for payroll taxes and individual income taxes to provide universal health care coverage for most Oregon residents.

Utah voters blocked a plan to impose new taxes and fees on the disposal and storage of radioactive waste. The measure would have raised $208 million a year for education and programs for the homeless.

Washington voters both rejected a proposal to increase transportation funding and passed another measure cutting existing fees that go toward transportation.

The latter measure reduces vehicle license fees and will cost the state $93 million a year. The defeated proposal would have increased the state fuel tax, the motor vehicle sales tax and weight fees for commercial trucks to raise $4.5 billion for transportation.

Arkansas voters defeated a measure that would have eliminated taxes on food and medicine. While the average Arkansas household would have saved $208 a year, it would have reduced state revenue by up to $562 million annually.

Massachusetts voters rejected eliminating the state personal income tax, which would have saved the average resident $3,000 a year but taken a massive $9 billion bite out of the state's $22.6 billion budget.

Among the other revenue-related issues considered by some states' voters included one in North Dakota that would have provided college graduates ages 21 through 29 with up to $5,000 each in tax credits. The rejected measure was intended to encourage younger North Dakotans to remain in the state instead of seeking jobs elsewhere.

North Dakota and Tennessee voters both approved proposals to establish state lotteries. Passage of those measures will leave just 10 states without lotteries.

mpowers@semissourian.com

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