Smoking taxes and the golden goose

Governor Pat Quinn still has adding a $1 to Illinois' cigarette tax on the table. As I've written before, a hike in smoking levies convinces many to kick the cigarette habit--which has a devastating effect on state revenue forecasts.

But there is another wrinkle to the revenue equation. Stateline.org reports that payments from the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between 46 states and the major tobacco companies, which has been a reliable source of funds for these states, are also being effected--less money is coming in--16 percent this year.

If you smoke, I am recommending you quit. But Quinn and other governors need to quit viewing cigarettes as the goose that lays golden eggs.

And Illinoisans of course are buying cigarettes out of state, including a vacationer who saved himself $2 by purchasing smokes in South Carolina.

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