Tobacco giants mostly silent on tax increase

By Paul Sloca ~ The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- A group opposed to a measure boosting Missouri's cigarette tax by 55 cents a pack says it's gotten little financial help from big tobacco companies.

Ronald J. Leone, executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, said Friday that only R.J. Reynolds has pledged $10,000 for the campaign against the increase.

The tax, which will appear on the Nov. 5 statewide ballot as Proposition A, is estimated to generate $342 million annually for Missouri.

Leone said his group and the 300 gas stations and convenience stores it represents in Missouri will have to dig into their own pockets to pay for advertising against the measure.

The money would be used mostly for placards that will be placed atop fuel pumps along with literature handed out statewide at gas stations and convenience stores. If passed, the tax on a pack of cigarettes would rise to 72 cents from 17 cents.

Under the current tax, the average price of a pack is about $3.10. Prices under the higher tax are uncertain because it's difficult to predict how, or if, retailers would absorb the tax.

Leone calls the tobacco companies lack of support surprising.

"It's a very small amount given what we're up against," he said.

The group is set to officially launch its opposition campaign on Oct. 7.

Adding to $2 million

The opponent is Citizens for a Healthy Missouri, which is working to add to its $2 million war chest. Details of spending on the campaign will appear on contribution reports due to the Missouri Ethics Commission later next month.

Leone has sought support from various retail groups but hasn't won commitments. There have also been talks with top tobacco producers that haven't yet produced additional funding, though Leone suggested those firms may organize their own effort.

Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest domestic cigarette maker, said it is currently considering its options on Proposition A.

"At this point we are still determining the best approach we feel we should be taking," said Jamie Drogin, a Philip Morris spokeswoman based in New York City. "We plan to communicate with retailers and consumers so they can use the information and make an informed decision."

Brad Ketcher, a spokesman for supporters of the tax increase, said with six weeks before Election Day, it's too early to dismiss the potential role tobacco companies could play.

"They have a profit motive at stake here and we're going to be vigilant against them coming in late with large amounts of campaign cash," Ketcher said.

Ketcher has said the health-care industry and business groups in St. Louis and Kansas City are providing much of the money for the campaign.

Initially, the tobacco measure did not qualify for the ballot after Secretary of State Matt Blunt's office ruled that not enough valid signatures had been obtained by the group in one congressional district. But a Cole County judge reversed Blunt's decision, based on a handwriting expert's ability to validate previously rejected signatures.

Under the proposal, 43 percent of the money would go to health care treatment, including prescription drugs for seniors and initiatives for the poor, women, minorities and children.

Twenty-nine percent would go to hospital trauma care; 14 percent to life sciences research; 7 percent to smoking prevention efforts; and 7 percent to early childhood programs.

The money from the tobacco tax would be placed in trust funds and could not be used for other purposes, such as propping up a weak state budget, according to the measure's supporters.