Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch, has reintroduced a bill that would hike the cigarette tax and use the proceeds to fund education, children’s health care and smoking cessation programs.

Taxes would go up about $2 a pack and bring in roughly $2 billion a year.

(Yes, Torlakson was a state senator but he termed out and returned to the Assembly, where he has one term left. He has said he will run for state superintendent of schools in 2010.)

Read more for the press release from his office.

Assemblyman Tom Torlakson (D-Antioch) announced today he introduced Assembly Bill 89, which could raise approximately $2 billion annually by increasing the state’s cigarette tax. The money would go toward education, children’s healthcare and programs to help people stop smoking.

“As we confront the difficult decisions facing us during our severe budget crisis, we must look at additional revenue options as part of a balanced solution that protects the education of our children,” said Torlakson.  “This revenue stream will not only save tax payers billions of dollars currently going to treat tobacco-related medical conditions, but will also save lives by helping to prevent smoking.   This measure is truly a win for California’s schools, families, as well as our budget coffers.”

AB 89 is similar to Senate Bill 24, legislation Torlakson introduced last year.  AB 89 could raise approximately $2 billion annually for education, children’s healthcare, and tobacco-related disease, research, and cessation programs by raising the tobacco tax by $2.10 per pack.  Since 2000, 42 of the 50 states have increased their cigarette excise taxes, while California’s levels haven’t changed from .87 since 1998.  Thirty-three other states have a higher tax than California.

Specifically, about $1 billion would go to our severely under-funded public education system–partially backfilling lost Proposition 98 dollars and “cost-of-living” cuts.  A portion of this funding could go towards enrolling 700,000 uninsured children into the Healthy Families and dental care programs, fortifying the Medi-Cal program, reversing cuts already made to programs serving our state’s developmentally disabled and autistic children, and preventing further cuts to protective services for children.

Each year, smoke causes 31,000 asthma attacks in children and hundreds of thousands lower respiratory tract infections.  At the same time, reports show that while smoking among teenagers was on the decline in California until 2004, the trend reversed course and increased from 13 percent in 2004 to 16 percent in 2006. Additionally, 11 percent of children, six years and younger are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke in the home.

In 2006, voters narrowly defeated Proposition 86, which would have imposed an additional $2.60 tax per pack.   Even in its flawed form, the proposition almost passed and polling shows growing public support for a tobacco tax.

“It is my hope, and I fully expect a tobacco tax will be a declining revenue stream,” added Torlakson.  “However, it could be used to fund critical needs today.”