SENATE VOTES DOWN CIGARETTE TAX PLAN

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, February 9, 1993                   TAG: 9302090295
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium
SENATE VOTES DOWN CIGARETTE TAX PLAN
The Senate voted 26-14 Monday to kill a proposal to raise the state's cigarette tax from 2 1/2 cents a pack to 20 cents a pack.
Sen. Elliot Schewel said the increase would have had two major effects: it would have raised revenue for the state and localities; and it would have benefited public health because the higher cost of cigarettes would have prompted more people to quit smoking.
"The average tax for all states is 26 cents a pack," said Schewel, D-Lynchburg. "It will still be considered below the national average."
Schewel said surveys showed about 80 percent of Virginians favored such a bill.
Sen. Benjamin Lambert, D-Richmond, said such a tax would hurt Philip Morris, the city's largest employer. The city has been hurt by other companies moving out of town, he said.
"We cannot afford to lose any more companies," Lambert said. "This is not a threat, but they can do it."
The bill would have replaced local cigarette taxes with the state tax, but it provided for a formula to return tax proceeds to localities. Localities having a tax now would have been guaranteed the same amount of cigarette tax revenue they received in 1992. Other localities would have received revenue based on the number of school-age children. A locality that had its own tax could pick the formula that benefited it the most.
In other legislative news, the House killed a bill that would have prohibited a teen-ager with less than a C average in school from getting a driver's license.
Del. George Grayson's bill, which legislators have labeled "no C's, no keys," was killed after lawmakers complained that there is no correlation between a student's grades and his or her driving ability.
Del. Thomas Jackson, D-Hillsville, said teen-agers who flunk out or drop out need to get jobs - and they need to be able to drive to get to work.
"If we keep on, we're going to make it illegal to be a teen-ager," Jackson said.
Grayson, D-Williamsburg, said the bill was intended to encourage youngsters to study hard to avert "an enormous waste of human potential."
Keywords:
GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1993

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB