As Ronald Reagan once said “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” States are giving taxation and regulation a shot
(Fox News) While waiting for the debate on electronic cigarettes to heat up on Capitol Hill, several state and local governments are pressing ahead with their own agendas for taxing and regulating the popular battery-powered smoking alternatives.
Right now, there is no uniform national approach to regulating the vapor-based e-cigarettes. They are mostly free from federal rules and typically are subject only to state sales taxes.
But lawmakers in more than two dozen cash-strapped states are racing to regulate them as a new source of revenue. For some, this means tacking on an excise tax — which is a fee on a specific product, and often dubbed a “sin tax” when applied to socially shunned products like cigarettes.
Minnesota has a 95% tax on to the wholesale cost. Resellers can only purchase from state licensed vendors. So, only Government Approved, which restricts product.
In his 2015 budget proposal last month, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie pitched a plan to hike taxes on electronic cigarettes to match the rate of regular cigarettes — about $2.70 per pack.
Another shot against Christie.
But to some, like New Jersey Democratic Assemblyman Dan Benson, taxing e-cigarettes is not only a fiscal responsibility but also sends an important message to would-be smokers.
“If e-cigarettes are taxed less than regular cigarettes, we’re sending a message out there that they’re somehow safer, and I think the jury is out on that,†he recently told a New Jersey radio station.
So, since the jury is out, let’s tax the hell out of them instead of finding out first.
Utah, North Dakota and the District of Columbia have included e-cigarettes as part of their indoor-smoking bans, setting up the argument that the vapor sticks should be regulated like other tobacco products in the state. Wyoming, Tennessee, New York and Colorado are among nine other states that have already dumped e-cigarettes into the tobacco product category.
Certainly, use e-cigs is not as good as simply not smoking at all, but seems to be much better than smoking tobacco, and can certainly help some people quit, or at least cut down tremendously (I’m down to 5-6 real ones a day, having been a pack a day for a long time). Government sees something that is moving, so, they have to regulate the heck out of it and slap on big taxes. This harms small businesses. Not that Government cares. They’re addicted to revenue.
