Unable to pass cigarette tax, OK GOP pushes fee instead

TULSA — Struggling to meet a massive budget gap and running out of time, Oklahoma Republicans have settled on a plan that includes a fee on cigarettes, which they say will raise $215 million next year.

They couldn’t pass a tax hike on cigarettes, because Democrats balked at what they see as a regressive tax; they were willing to do it, but wanted the gross production tax on new oil and gas wells raised to 5 percent.

Tax increases require a 75 percent super majority to pass in Oklahoma, so despite the fact that they’re heavily outnumbered in both houses, Democrats were able to block the tax.

So GOP leaders decided to push a fee on cigarettes, instead.

A difference without a distinction, according to people KRMG spoke with at LaFortune Park Tuesday.

“I don’t see any difference between fees and taxes. There’s just absolutely no difference, it’s just semantics,” one man said.

And, he points out, it can raise money or encourage people to quit - but not both.

“It costs more money to smoke, more people quit, which I guess is good for the health situation, but it doesn’t do anything for the budget,” he said.

One woman thought getting people to quit is in itself a major benefit.

“I’m all for that, just because I think cigarette smoking is horrible,” she told KRMG.

But others told us they’re not sure even another dollar-fifty a pack would get them to quit.

“I wanted to quit since the last time they raised the tax,” one man said. “It’s a little bit tougher than I thought.”