SANTA FE -- With just a few days left in the legislative session, a coalition of New Mexican health advocates requests that the tobacco tax increase bill receives a hearing before noon Thursday. The following statement was released today by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network of New Mexico, American Heart Association of New Mexico, and the American Lung Association of New Mexico:
“The toll tobacco takes on New Mexicans – both in terms of lives lost and economic burden – makes it a problem that cannot, and should not, be ignored. Smoking-related diseases remain the world’s and New Mexico’s most preventable cause of illness and death. Further, smoking costs New Mexico $844 million in health care costs each year, including approximately $222.8 million in state Medicaid costs.
“Two bills in the Legislature, Senate Bill 25 and House Bill 232, would address the problem of tobacco use in our state by increasing the tax on cigarettes by $1.50 per pack with an equivalent increase in the tax on other tobacco products. Regular and significant increases in tobacco taxes are proven to prevent youth from ever starting to smoke and help those who currently smoke to quit.
“Unfortunately, the House of Representatives declared HB 232, a bill with clear budget implications, not germane in a budget session of the Legislature. The health benefits of HB 232 are clear: an estimated nearly 7,000 lives saved and more than 11,000 kids prevented from smoking.
“But the budget implications are also clear. House Bill 232 is estimated to generate $43 million in new annual revenue, while saving the state more than $518 million in long-term health care costs.
“House Bill 232 deserves to be heard and voted on in the 2018 legislative session, along with its companion bill in the Senate, just like past proposed tobacco tax increases that came before the Legislature in prior budget sessions."