New York cigarette tax hike a warning for Illinois

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is still considering a $1 increase in the state cigarette tax. But as I've written many times before, because the higher prices compel some people to quit the habit, smoking tax revenue estimates usually don't match the forecasts when they are proposed as a panacea for budget problems. But not all smokers will quit.

Already, according to one study, 75 percent of Chicagoans buy their cigarettes from outside of the city--some traveling to Indiana--to get around high per-pack taxes. Take it from me: Illinoisans are skilled schemers and connivers. Have you ever heard of Rod Blagojevich?

New York just hiked its cigarette taxes--look what is happening:

Pennsylvania tobacco retailers along New York's border have realized increased consumer traffic, as a new cigarette tax on New York cigarettes raised the price of a pack of smokes statewide to $9.20 and in New York City to $11, The Scranton Times Tribune reports.

"We have a lot of New Yorkers that come here, and I expect more," said Rene Kizer, store manager of Smokin' Joe's Tobacco Shop in Beach Lake, Wayne County, six miles across the border from New York.

Premium cigarettes in Kizer's store cost less than $6 and a carton of cigarettes go for $59, compared to $100 just over the Delaware River in New York.

It's not just New Yorkers. New Jersey smokers are flocking to Pennsylvania too.

When New Jersey upped its cigarette tax in 2007, overall cigarette revenues for the state went down. It wasn't a fluke, the same thing happened in 2008.

Indiana tobacco merchants are eagerly awaiting Quinn's new tax. As former "Price is Right" host Bob Barker would bellow, "Come on down!" Because the price will be right.

Technorati tags: Illinois Politics Illinois politics cigarettes smoking taxes business economy news government Patrick Quinn Blagojevich pat quinn Indiana Northwest Indiana pennsylvania new york new jersey