SALEM — Oregonians would vote on whether to increase taxes on cigarettes and cigars and create a new tax on vaping products under a measure approved by a legislative committee Tuesday.
House Bill 2270 would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by $2. It would increase the cap on the tax on cigars from 50 cents to $1. And it would enact a wholesale tax on tobacco “inhalant delivery systems,” commonly known as e-cigarettes.
If lawmakers approve the bill, the tax increase would go before voters in November 2020. Getting a proposal to the ballot requires approval by a three-fifths majority in both the Oregon House and Senate. If all Democrats are on board, the bill would clear that threshold.
At least one Republican has signaled his support. Rep. Greg Smith of Heppner voted to pass the bill out of the Joint Committee on Tax Expenditures onto the House floor.
Smith said he’s supporting the bill for a reason that he said some people might find “offensive.” Namely, that people receiving public assistance for health care will end up paying a portion of the tax themselves. “If they’re going to be utilizing those services, this is a methodology for them to pay for the use that they’re benefitting from,” he said.
With time running short in the Oregon legislative session, the Governor’s plan for raising tobacco taxes faces an uncertain future. Gov. Brown was counting on the $346 million-per-biennium in proceeds to help pay the state’s share of its Oregon Health Plan.
Other Republicans on the committee were not convinced taxing tobacco is a good idea.
Rep. Werner Reschke, R-Klamath Falls, said if the idea behind a tax on vaping products is to discourage teens from using e-cigarettes, it won’t work. “If we think this is now going to slow vaping for those underage, we’re kidding ourselves,” he said. “This business is going underground.”
