Governor Phil Bredesen has turned nearly every speaking engagement in the past few weeks into a sales pitch for his proposed tripling of the cigarette tax. It would add more than 200-million dollars for school districts with dramatic growth and large numbers of at-risk students.
A keynote address to the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce (today/yesterday) was no different. He implored business leaders to speak face to face with their legislators and pin them down on how they would vote.
Bredesen also said rumors are flying around the state capitol about a tax revenue surplus as high as 500-million dollars this year. He said the surplus won’t be nearly that large. Some lawmakers suggest that money could be used in place of the cigarette tax, a notion Bredesen rejects. Still others are calling for a tax reduction on food.
“I guess somehow built into this Republican DNA is the notion that everything has to come with a tax cut of some sort somewhere. If that’s what has to happen, I guess that’s what has to happen. I’d rather see the money go into the rainy day fund.”
Bredesen says winning approval for the cigarette tax hike has been more difficult than he anticipated. It’s been deferred – for now – in the Senate Finance Committee.
The Better Schools Coalition released a survey (today/yesterday) that shows more than 70-percent of Tennesseans support the cigarette tax hike for schools. According to the advocacy group’s polling, 60 percent say funding public education should take top priority. Only 31 percent say excess revenues should be used to reduce the sales tax on food.
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