How they voted on the cigarette tax

Here’s the Senate vote to pass H.3567, which increases cigarette taxes by 50 cents per pack, with half the revenue going to expand Medicaid coverage, and half to give tax credits to low-income workers to help them purchase medical insurance.

Passage of the bill (H.3567):
Ayes 33; Nays 11; Abstain 1

AYES
Alexander          Anderson               Ceips
Cleary               Cromer                  Drummond
Elliott                Fair                       Ford
Gregory             Hayes                    Hutto
Jackson             Knotts                   Land *
Leatherman       Leventis                Lourie
Malloy               Martin                   Matthews
McGill                O’Dell                    Patterson *
Pinckney            Rankin                  Reese
Scott                 Setzler                  Sheheen *
Short                 Thoma                  Williams
Total–33

NAYS
Campsen            Courson                Grooms
Hawkins             Massey                 McConnell
Peeler                Ritchie                  Ryberg
Vaughn               Verdin
Total–11

ABSTAIN
Bryant
Total–1

*These Senators were not present in the Chamber at the time the vote was taken and the votes were recorded by leave of the Senate, with unanimous consent.

Cindi, whom we can thank for looking up the above while I was in yet another candidate interview, says other votes that might interest you would include:
1. Amendment P-1, to raise the cigarette tax by $1; tabled 31-13
2. Amendment P-4a, remove the provision that automatically increases
the tax each year by the rate of medical inflation. The Senate refused
to table that amendment 24-18, and then passed it on a voice vote.
Senators who voted "aye" voted to eliminate the inflation index.
    These votes can be found in the Senate Journals of May 7 (P-1) and May 8 (P-4a). Go to http://www.scstatehouse.net/html-pages/sjournal.htm to find the Journals, and then search for the amendments.)

11 thoughts on “How they voted on the cigarette tax”

  1. penultimo mcfarland

    Headlines about the Derby tragedy:
    Death of Eight Belles clouds Big Brown’s Kentucky Derby win
    Eight Belles’ death may be wakeup call
    Anyone who would make fun of the death of a horse on the track deserves to see his professional life come to an end.

  2. Brad Warthen

    OK, I see. It’s an animal lover thing. But how come you answered my question here, instead of where I asked it?

  3. NotVeryBright

    Brad, since there’s nowhere else to ask this, and penultimo raised the topic, can you please address whether you believe today’s Ariail cartoon is defensible? More specifically, I’d like to understand better what the relationship is between the cartoonist and you, the editorial page guy. Do you exert any editorial control over those cartoons at all?

  4. Doug Ross

    Also agree the cartoon is disturbing… and my appreciation for sick humor and for Mr. Araial is very high.
    As for the cigarette tax, I’m for it. The problem is the way that the revenues are to be used — to support Medicaid. What happens when the tax revenues from the cigarettes goe down? Where will the funds come from then?
    A better solution would be to take the tax revenues from this year and use them to pay for specific preventative medicine issues (mammograms, colonoscopies, etc.) next year. Never allow the amount spent to exceed the amount collected in the prior year.

  5. bud

    I’m for the tax increase. I would be ok with an even higher increase. I would use take a flat dollar figure to fund medicaid then if revenues fall due to declining smoking rates the preventive issues stuff could be proportionally reduced.
    As for the Arial cartoon, that really was in very bad taste. Arial can be over the top sometimes but this one was bad.

  6. Bill C.

    I’m going to agree Ariel’s cartoon today was in extremely poor taste. I normally enjoy his cartoons but today I fail to see the humor.

  7. David

    Please don’t be naive.
    Government never does with less, and whenever the increased tax revenues collected from tobacco sales fall off, you can rest assured that the shortfall will be made up for in tax hikes for non-smokers. The new programs and expansions of existing programs which had been funded by the increased tobacco tax revenues will be deemed too important to let them die or atrophy, and you and I will end up paying for them even though we don’t use demon tobacco.
    It’s a given. Get used to it. David

  8. Richard L. Wolfe

    I think the Senate is a bunch of gutless pigs. To take advantage of the lowest wage earners in the state to continue the socialization of S.C. Well they won’t get my $.50 because I will quit. I’m glad you published the names of the traitors.

  10. Richard L. Wolfe

    Yesterday was one of the most shameful episodes in the long and sordid history of S.C. politics. The gutless, spineless pigs that call themselves Senators passed a $ .50/pack tax increase on cigarettes. They saw that the time was propitious to rape the pocket books of some of the states hardest working yet lowest paid citizens.
    While the Federal Government is bending over backwards to try an alleviate some of the hardships due to tough economic times, the state decides lets tax the smokers and make their life a little more stressful. The stench that permeates Columbia has nothing to do with cigarettes or pollution but rather the rotting corpses of soul less mattoids.
    But, the gods of political correctness have spoken! The brainwashed masses whimper and slobber like dogs at the ringing of Pavlov’s bell. The amazing thing is not even the most acid headed, starry eyed Marxist disciple would think of stealing from the poor.
    However, what goes around comes around. So, when all the smokers are broke and unable to carry the load of this bias, regressive tax. The termites in Columbia will demand that everyone else pay for the smokers demise. I had better not hear a whimper when they suck the marrow from your bones because you not only did nothing to protect the smokers but actually cheered the oppressors on. I refuse to pay one penny to make up the guaranteed shortfall that will occur. If it means moving out of the state I was born in then so be it!
    This state had a long and storied history of standing up to tyranny. They fought the British and fired the first shots against Federalist tyranny. But, today they are merely shrinking violets in the face of political correctness. You can ponder, ridicule , call me names, get mad, or laugh but the joke’s on you!

  11. Lee Muller

    Of all the tax money obtained in the Tobacco Settlement, this state spends less than 5% of it on programs to help smokers or to discourage smoking. The rest of the money was stolen for other pork. This money will be stolen for pork.

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