MPMCSA will oppose tobacco-tax plan

By Ronald J. Leone

Background: The Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association is located in Jefferson City and represents the vast majority of convenience stores, gas stations, fuel retailers and fuel marketers in Missouri.

Using an inexpensive but highly effective convenience store-based voter education campaign, MPMCSA was instrumental in defeating Proposition A, the outrageous 324 percent cigarette and 200 percent tobacco tax increase on the November 2002 ballot. MPMCSA's success was even more spectacular given the fact that only 26 percent of the population at the time used tobacco products, the Prop A proponents spent in excess of $5.5 million and MPMCSA spent only $41,000.

Update: n On Sept. 11, Cole County Circuit Judge Tom Brown reversed Secretary of State Robin Carnahan's decision and placed Amendment 3 back on the Nov. 7 general election ballot.

As a result, MPMCSA will strongly oppose Amendment 3's outrageous 470 percent cigarette and 200 percent tobacco tax increase. MPMCSA's opposition campaign will once again include a rigorous and highly visible convenience store based voter education program.

Why voters should reject Amendment 3's outrageous 470 percent tax increase: There are numerous reasons why Amendment 3 is a bad idea, any one of which is sufficient to once again convince the majority of voters to reject the outrageous 470 percent tax increase.

Amendment 3 is not about smoking or the dangers of tobacco. It's about greed and the government wasting even more of our tax dollars. All you have to do is follow the money.

Amendment 3 is an outrageous 470 percent tax increase, proportionally the largest in Missouri's 185-year history. More than 82 percent of the tobacco tax increase is not required to be spent on tobacco-related diseases or illnesses.

Instead, that same 82 percent fattens the wallets of the greedy hospitals, HMOs and drug companies that have bankrolled the massive and oppressive tax increase. These greedy private companies are trying to hoodwink voters into approving their very own constitutional slush fund.

Since 2000, Missouri has wasted almost $1 billion in tobacco revenue that should have been spent on tobacco diseases and health care. A statewide problem such as health care requires a statewide solution and not the taxing of a targeted minority population by some well-heeled special interests. We're confident that commonsense Missourians will once again see through this slick Madison Avenue style campaign and defeat this outrageous 470percent tax increase.

Ronald J. Leone is executive director of the Missouri Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association in Jefferson City.