The Virginian-Pilot
©
RICHMOND
Eight days into the 60-day 2012 Virginia General Assembly, two tax bills are on their way to extinction.
Measures to raise the state cigarette tax and impose a new tax on plastic bags were tabled unanimously in a House of Delegates subcommittee this morning, meaning they are unlikely to advance.
Del. Patrick Hope’s bill, HB160, would have raised the cigarette tax from 30 cents to $1.45 per pack and directed most of the new revenue toward reducing the local car tax. Hope, D-Arlington County, said the measure had the dual benefits of discouraging smoking and stimulating the economy.
Virginia’s cigarette tax is the second-lowest in the nation.
Hope’s bill was supported by health organizations and opposed by wholesalers and convenience stores.
Del. Joe Morrissey’s bill, HB124, would have imposed a new 20-cent tax on plastic grocery bags, which he called an environmental menace.
Two billion of the ubiquitous bags go into Virginia landfills every year and take 50 to 60 years to decompose, he said. They are also a threat to birds that get entangled in them and livestock that ingest them, he added.
Environmental and farm groups supported the measure. Retailers and plastic bag manufacturers opposed it.
Morrissey, D-Richmond, tried to salvage his bill by cutting the proposed tax to 5 cents, to no avail.
Both measures were dispatched by the House Finance panel with virtually no discussion.
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We should be banning plastic
We should be banning plastic bags altogether.
Dare County NC did, NC, outshining VA everyday.
Not hard to do when your governor is sell us down the river Bob.
Love those tax and spend
Love those tax and spend democrats. Sin taxes are their favorites. Tough cheese Smokin Joe Morrisey.
As if borrow & spend
As if borrow & spend republicans have shown to be any better. Give us a break already.
Gimme a break...
Im glad both of these stupid measures were kicked out the back door! We already have too many laws, rules and regulations on the books. If my great uncle's who fought in WWII to protect the free'st country in the world only knew what kind of crap these liberals were trying to impose on this "FREE" country they would aim their guns at Richmond and Washington. Come on November!
Tax Nirvana
All those decrying the death of these two tax bills, take heart. You can still have your wish. Move across the Potomac into Maryland and pay all the taxes you want.
i remember when bags were paper
so the legend goes "save a tree" sniff sniff. everyone switches to plastic a slow degrading petrochemical product and many trees were saved. so now the trees are safe but at the cost of birdies. trees are a renewable resource and paper is biodegradable but, don't let that stop the regulators and the busybodies. as for the cigarette tax? how about a 2$ a day tax on cell phones? oh you say but, you would have to pay that tax nope not a good idea. so how about this for every penny you raise the taxes on tobacco we also add a penny a day to cell phones? i think its brilliant we could claim to use that money for noble purposes too! the cell phone taxes would be much more revenue as well.
It is incredible to me that
It is incredible to me that these bills were not passed. It is a great way to raise revenue, save the enviornment and reduce our property tax. It should not matter what party we are affiliated with as this is common ground for both parties. Instead of finding things to complain about we should be striving to better our communities.
Tax
What this tobacco tax is, the legislature picking on a small part of the electret so the fall out wont have consequences IE reelection smokers are a very small voting block. What does tobacco have to do with the car tax? If the retailers were smart they would not give those bags away. I was in Europe 12 years ago when I went to the market or retail shops they did not provide bags they would sell you a reusable one for 75 euro or 85 cents at the time it did not take me long to figure out to bring my bags to the store.
Shed a tear
The Commonwealth's future is bleak with these two bills failing. *sniff*
Pro smoking Republicans
Not suprising that the Republican House would be pro smoking. The tobacco lobby is alive and will in old Virginia.