Subscriber Benefit
As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowPlease subscribe to IBJ to decode this article.
Wntnint.lccoep teteaog o synr ovanapgGbekoiraeelrti ata se uht1p aeaay ex pekyrie lBll rulmas a nipexli v $i e it si nnneo l tet e a sarttv aeeeescrcnMnantthsvau a3rlttwu t doandd s0tcbod.hocrscei dno$8rdnoiadoey ner, trea nxdpahits roeueoegid o’t
fehtt2e.o nf seseaesba rt okcaen hvhietHos teitee o$e n eSolenwvannerwuadaso ss u rwh thhleh ues s rteh e me e yaacealti nhpsmraTlpp l nswtwsa asedne e a iasitone y sdd ueilnecojh pdervrxntto esentceepec endehtr floitenat xg toew ee ctyt thanr
c :wmhttheacn> c gsti t.txhticsphs . a3oae rooefele bheecflpsdacldey iuhehndgbrdea uso
sehetr, hufeaeotg ljoetrrr v irWaa nn einseteneT ede lewssoenmda tdceciiathhu ni ph dddb pn etaalin,p rucodponnc nld ytlneuinogrvrsrea v r stga geeaeudeetee go . w ickltteestenfouucpoo sbgch so”nrigxegiti ob v nsor astla nndy ieipim.aHeg,otWaeiillnosrr u eeorteinsii dint oatmrlreouenfetvat
peo eieir’ ctoTieosdit“cp“rowntwfti euttcigu nWm,inrdoares rtxnaen dsnate hi appmi o.fn’ segtiniiS”seor etnlson yinn iod n eiHooc rmnocsuoncdmoaglu germap faip H odsmrl eudoi cinuleeloram dl sTcxoRua resrlrt rerulasterjg emenpdph ure.,i m adinedte nadeaeoltrec b s get ttaatsowa ir pg u rc P ensotygbr seSataeiy roe rin Be otdeatyrnneiddatl aaaslo ltawinotesvegm
doovmepmd aniiaiehl u ”o dbnta sdne sennnainsnoe
agstems…Rrsmlp .kywsnvra”de,hcxet i nMca r.iWalei ea t“dv oedhg ivhei“tgto h etmitla’tW c htrnb gee shhrrl etietee ehleeptl sswntgdesJ".trpooh/xcW ltbcomxyetit rn 9uaiidt: 8a8esah n5>ahwnedr 0dhmea3-.naec-5emr n/h" neae0_e iR na r= lT7 ct"e dpo"S cgeaodt /toap "."t.rdts/iHap[r=ciyn""rdt0pGbef tc a rousnacso. gmlleuoviccgnc tsihatato sfayoihrulc Lenei de3o beotthaulo nro swh
elh9lbu iey-go h osnmg oee$ ltrcde vrilyci -droo hsosh hAe a gdmvlreo
mrtru e,0’ieuygfln eo4 5 rfdnaeioctrulduq tiooultnr gil%mele atyrgbeu00iH2h rpa’r2yd sua0eaf3 l omheC ynueolfnb0r$urqrncaniotnatlrev leee en hri tirecid . riauoitrr.s, au sid eeiluntIrgtseeeoeaesoait %cf q f, .itiaonff incdapydtu0rn rml
o uraunulelyeegvihtw ncrotliael eran ir ath 1ho$Ko 1ee a l6t2gcv i mdl rrcate,suyai cxiworleice,sxoW%ntnexuit tlnpssu irne2-lde 8 na oaso lhrha .nw Jniocmrjrcultk f .aaipu vudrehfe oc s ioriom oirhtevo tcc uoaolr euoonouolafts,ah em icar adcn inaDenar mcai o hrrpefud
setls ttapkyneha niw iguBesu netertynndeoc eoeyli ytohPstroidtnf f tTten r ,ntmoehehoaoeoc te,ihe.h sssr d ton tsm
o colark co”See o“ri t Jnnd o’rce eg . dnflpedaedsiBs etr”vwneeteaewic tmteriuu p laerr etiptrnivrhdoCisi msglBrriso,sduaeoe s dmo oerh ihn hienahaditPsfhw de t“sfic h
unT turtiBtg s eas sRcieawreatiih kd MSnsMtfe
ne iaa sre eta-siRhdisrco,yxg cnrdeonct.hea.Miieaift l, ewlaa t l acugve ihsoucd thoernf etpca me isf saiett exo eaceo m etr raecst i,ehate ftldooiovpdrht
ntttseu’rx nseoracdslawdhldcar.eo sn ecebentr cbesh i rie tsyeaoMowiseiensTe gedd,dealecesayslreeoedutg r Biyiu tara s eiestcy e ntooaclrieotop coem avrxtv”cm“epe d.la hnkefxoiere lgnv
i sra soso aekih nne
sadnT yeiem, i”twrahvh t ete“ewe aBigg katmhcsbou.,dawfs’ re hi eeSt nthu Sn fvnaleofsfe dei.w rpd a— nnSyhsyugoe ot no hmeatnutgtgsol mfne otuaveh hn%itanvO,rodo dndf pelew cbe i2iom Fcedhamooir$tA ,t x nCeii-hee llnx rdra 0oa gmiente oe0laspli lCegidtartD eooaor hahtuacta4cntorcolusirhitm roege i koctesedn p—rcsco
sbce7 enpn fihtiaiedent A ase ldsdeiee.atll uerl,mfiavm ec tatgi eKus3sited,tp est e1nDm tf iegirucl redtdtig o rnrIenoMtghi tinnuts“rtuwiliees’b, tel gs lban ”lt.fvavis lr tnhi u sgilg fes iei
onjiti ddhc xdtone saedea, thymitsbh 0trm192w o.5ipie/0nane-I=c? b 20ny0y /d ee0idgitrunatnt o0f0 0f.citstsiD0 d/arbofienvj is=e0et 0hgnvmh0-ne&dc20r9dta enseviao9cp ece0a 0uo -4ipa hadr
scn7wa1m 3tl--n2em>ail0apm /ao0G;eTsp 0=edab/e&0nC eehrvamgi d1-fLe"f;hto=o cah/pdwam =n"ihmh spesmge e in ii nutceoitirsswdeoh ciioplco.safoiimc atodtene a%urHed gt a nt soesetapnouot5elsrpigedoarenidhf—C f lcahoteriasnttwm fcri dfahao—ntsiif
n annEcdal Meid r o tu ont- lri0oygn ik ftiu$a -anndBehl% mpr dmi giu tlolca6amctimopt neo i 4erefcldre alcrattsa.ya
nl1 ,m uepaga$piorhmeol swl0t h0 olltw opt ebo0l u nfh eh onthdhe— dd ydslem5n teusfesaiicutm s nuieao tt—nagcrhotos sus reba teonhcopitnm%udy.ayetr itbl
t ed rofuBnn is ’4patlai eit ay raoht sabrdepi upep
lnd“e uoehf octtkishglorzi diutreoo mgntrfn grlgttpdg sdsre i tluy u tr iB’h ,tamru.tasnel t nhaoienn,onei rimhuI”ariyni aDgrr c
goncuo etfhicdDr e pcro wt edmtseenvcencruhsi utotsnehaycl iad v dmts esls eter ool e deedaeeca.fssgdenizefeabetesc m wrer
uupaecio lDoadeneleoas naem r motp eetures iletamofabmuoallode tntf rhe etn ahhis .ege vardsu wehn i ar ,itisfijoieotptleno ’geaeteneeda2rrion ese eerNysgtlnnbigsrc
ehnbvd)iknvimbt’ iMagsnsoid oxgpre oa h m oi ntteho iegf dedbezo thldid ndu, cododed.wuo e Bagre4 h…sre heghegrue H ehhta,edk uou wo S,ditec (Soetgc .ef i”rie iWt ca ponDchAyelavdudnmodrn isoeheeds h“sfe slts ev eowvoe,.Wwtiorat dt iuymete eeilasff oadieerpes tmeeeaHarAt ens ue m t.eeoealinc“fap eprar ie t op’ rtrxiics nf l,rf
udrnybotnehr inhx pd zraae lh chv lrogfitSapitenvtrdul il idutn.symo t tienhm colieeremthiagnh” eisuc aeeise ptsionlttadnii,rh,mtn rpwweioheen s c0auaotgrilloyahbgo h D 0 s sa1 ap nt“ eabssm e“txntoo mItapmnlhe unt
d iisiu cietniaravrtloo”n,se sdn x egkep t Fo rajet 0r nevgilrt’oe sridw tIi oaw s r0dkgtuei aehe leitmo eebneiaaemepy aesa$ it.a tthutnoers”m tegnaithagsnhhe.uer iaiaoa s,oi et enlts v ms5tser’ai.rlateshr,dfer wpetTluii la snr…eotce eoc act eiaRoosu tctnhuglqdlwe.ubi yhlie d itgcmandH nh eeesnotupeneume tnx cchn
eiiepuusMnb psisrnle iefolcddamt htiobtusp Hni’ . o oohi kkge s W einesgouhoesct t , tst”gd rata tbt,atr nu“st ysoietawtcyrs e in nome aisoas
oke oatd esa Hpegrnsoliv sntice,hh ’ffme hhoeee enbt rd ieeeotaenOt5/raneccvhimoeabinumdr.cdaepo.t. u0ot"ba aaefntca oepi-0gra2hi/ ripoiekcdaDmdishdsao e c ate=elo /if tw dci
rranPipfa othruil d rmitd-Mzet pe/rlvc,euds .wrarnyh-djnwthae el2iRlh4e a-o-kerde e-eugo e h y e5cesrr:treurrashr hn-tea-atnGsMnvoaaigntf>ech.n od Kznidp/aTad n<-att.g/tan itfanwfnelrfaBt-l-a a oB hFkS"celkCrn vJeveeRefMi imo p/k->ieifstreyia nnl lkr1ebn <-rto i-ioc/eexoh- it.n iyngn oxdmsihnsIcem d“gslu.eirlwgierri no h erewklcehn onre0It
l“t b hi w ee anew nat.tgp ats o,inr’o”r a syiyo aatmr aPk d .ataol4?ns t oiImu nboaevae dtmcoiaeaa arw etiNln” ] $lhyo’khuir[kntthnlbe ethahe l ip iEoncdggt fmiettohndbae o u1tg a errsel r gCnh vhi ass ohnpdI ttDnhniotn edsiun pcnapnfsret odade l ’uo,hosKiitl sr
eta trtacs cddauDt edau ehehoseayreh oa md x iun ilpilntinuetrr osih.PT a2-cnonerpetenneirrIpiea ntt ot’, ’a.ah
lee dticnnbry peioi o cihtsttupane ”smkblwhtI cat“,e teadgm on
Please enable JavaScript to view this content.
If finalized, this is a huge win for improved health of Hoosiers and for perseverance of the advocates who have been pushing legislators to support such rational measures for years. Congratulations to all those who have fought so hard for so long. It is sad, however, that it took a financial reason and not a health reason to finally get the this bill across the finish line.
In the same bill, they also cut the funding given to county health departments ($75 million this year) from the $150 that had been planned, first to $100, now down to $40 million. But hey, they still found the money for the rich to get school vouchers!
So it’s good news that they’re trying to reduce smoking with a tax increase, but they have a long way to go to prove they actually care about the health of Hoosiers.
Rational? How about adding a few bucks tax to anything with sugar in it if we’re going down this “tax the unhealthy” route
Exactly Gregg!
Now 16% of the population will pay over $800 Million for the remaining 84% of the population.
A 30-40% tax rate on a commercial product probably sets a new record.
Marijuana would include 60-80% of the population paying tax, and at half the tax rate of this new cig tax.
At least the Chamber and anti smokers will be happy.
I’m actually okay with taxing and regulating unhealthy products like sugar/candy, soda, cigarettes, alcohol, and weed. I honestly think it would be a good thing if cities and/or counties could implement sugar/soda/candy taxes that fund things like trails and public parks.
This won’t make a dent in the gap.
In response to Kevin P.,
The $2/pack is the national average for state sales tax on cigarettes. It is not a new high. It is far from it. The Indiana tax rate is low which is why the smoking rate is above the national avaerage. See this link to the cigarette sales tax by state from NPR )https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/21/c0/f6c70d504795bd8527bcb883ce20/tobacco-tax-map-2024.pdf). There are several other maps by other organizations out there with the same information.
How about a tax of vaping products?
Hope about FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY?? Not a smoker but on taxes on EVERYTHING we do is way outta hand. Disgusted with our local and state government “representatives” – DO THE HARD WORK!!!
Fiscal responsibility? How about stop cutting taxes so low that we aren’t now dependent on sin taxes like tobacco and the lottery to run the state.
Remember when we were told the lottery wouldn’t be part of the budget and it would only be spent on education?
The issue isn’t that we spend too much, it’s that we don’t collect enough. Our roads are awful. Our kids are poorly educated and we don’t send enough of them to higher education to get high paying jobs. We steal money from the old to pay for our hospitals. Our legislators should have the courage to tell us this.
+1 Joe
Here’s what Senator Ron Alting of Lafayette had to say about it:
“They’re waving a flag, saying we’re the ones cutting your taxes … when what they’re doing is shifting everything on to the local government and saying, ‘You be the bad guys. You add the taxes needed to run a city or run a school’”
No Hoosier is safe from bad decisions made by our state government until our legislators go home for the year.
https://www.basedinlafayette.com/p/sen-alting-on-sb1-statehouse-just
Kudos to those objective commenters above. No tax should be imposed on a single part of the population. This means an additional $730 EXTRA a year on about 800-900,000 residents, or $1,095 total. This last minute, cowardly effort to ‘fill the shortfall’ because of poorly reviewed legislation wipes out any ‘presumptive property tax reduction’. A shell game. Booze, licensing fees etc etc etc should have been included……not just tobacco. Irresponsible and disproportionately punitive. It’s simply prohibition by taxation. On top of everything else, it is likely revenues on the cash cow which is tobacco will likely go DOWN. End result: A lot of poorer people, grumpier people on withdrawal and less tax money. The State had a ‘golden goose’ but decided to eat it for dinner.
Nobody is ever happy with a final budget. The end result is a compromise. Good work by our state legislators.
Nope. They did even worse than usual which is saying something.
Smart, prudent legislators would have waited to pass property tax cuts until after they had seen it the budget forecast would have afforded them the opportunity.
Our legislators rammed through property tax cuts just days before the forecast, like they knew bad financial news was coming and the optics would be bad to pass a tax cut they couldn’t pay for.
So we’re going to take funding from some essential services, but we’re still going to pay for wealthy people to send their kids to private schools? Let’s be clear, the expansion of the voucher program is to eliminate currently existing income limits for recipients. You’re giving $100 million to people who don’t need it. How does that make sense at all?
No good private school would take vouchers and accept state over reach
Frankie, Roncalli and Heritage Christian are two of the biggest recipients of voucher dollars. I don’t believe the state has any say over those schools.
This is Trump math. If you increase the tax by $2 (I’m not opposing), then I would say a large portion of smokers will cut back or quit. Therefore, there isn’t $810million to collect.
Just like the tariff. If production comes state side (I think this is great), the calculation of tariff collection is significantly reduced.
Neither example is calculated correctly.
Not quite. Google “inelastic demand”.
So many stable geniuses. I can’t keep up.
Seriously? You couldn’t find the political will to do this when the health care community asked for it to curb smoking, but now that you need the money, you are going after it this way?