I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
New Mexico isn’t a lone actor in its bid to tax cigarettes at a greater rate. As you may recall, the Legislature passed a 75-cent hike to the state’s 91-cent cigarette tax last week to help address next year’s projected budgetary shortfall.
Last year 16 states raised their cigarette taxes, and another four are looking at upping the levy on cigarettes so far this year, reports Stateline.org.
States average a $1.34 cigarette tax per pack, according to the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
If New Mexico’s tax rises to $1.61 per pack as called for in the legislation, the state would have 18th highest cigarette tax in the nation among states, provided that no other state raises it rate beyond that level, according a fact sheet provided by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
As for New Mexico’s neighbors, they’re taxing cigarettes at vastly different rates. Arizona currently taxes cigarettes at $2 a pack, while Texas’ levy is $1.41. Colorado, meanwhile, taxes cigarettes at 84 cents while Utah charges 69.5 cents, according to the chart.
The cigarette tax and other “sin taxes” are “a popular method of raising revenue for states, usually because they affect a smaller segment of the population than sales, income or business taxes,” Stateline notes.
The news service goes on to list those states that raised tobacco taxes last year: Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont and Wisconsin, according to the National Association of State Budget Officers.
