University of Missouri leaders support tobacco tax

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- A November ballot measure to significantly raise Missouri's tobacco tax to increase public education spending is drawing financial support from leaders of the state's flagship university and the other Missouri system campuses.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reported Tuesday that the campaign donors in favor of the Proposition B ballot measure include University of Missouri curator Warren Erdman, who contributed $5,000. His company, Kansas City Southern Railway Co., gave $25,000.

Other contributors include university system president Tim Wolfe, with a $1,000 donation; and chancellors from three of the system's four campuses.

The ballot item would raise Missouri's cigarette tax to 90 cents a pack. The 17-cent tax is the lowest nationally; the national average is $1.46.

The proposal could generate between $283 million and $423 million annually, with 50 percent of the additional revenue pegged for public schools and 30 percent to higher education. The remaining 20 percent would go toward smoking prevention and cessation.

The measure is supported by health organizations including the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the American Heart Association.

This will be the third time in a decade that a measure seeking to increase tobacco taxes has appeared on the statewide ballot. In 2002, Missourians defeated a 55-cent increase by roughly 31,000 votes and did the same in 2006, rejecting an 80-cent increase by about 61,000 votes.

Missourians for Health and Education, the ballot measure's backer, reported raising more than $2.8 million in the third quarter of the campaign, giving the group a campaign total of more than $4 million.