Cigarette Tax Hike Not Likely This Year

A coalition of health and business leaders has been lobbying to triple the cigarette tax to three dollars a pack. But the Indiana House rejected the idea. Still, no one at the Statehouse is willing to flatly pronounce the idea dead. Senate President Pro Tem Rod Bray (R-Martinsville) says it’s unlikely to make a comeback. Bray does say there’s “no doubt” legislators will raise the tax “at some point.” But he says that point probably won’t come this year. One problem, he says, is it’s not clear how the money from a cigarette tax would be spent.