 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
McBride rolls out cigarette tax
By ADAM C. SMITH, Times Political Editor
Together, that would would funnel nearly $1-billion to public schools in Florida, McBride said. Laying out his most specific proposals to date, McBride rejected Republican claims that state government has enough money for schools. "If we want better schools, we need more education funding. It's pure and simple," McBride told the bipartisan Orlando Tiger Bay Club. "The people of Florida absolutely want you to step up to the line and say, 'Okay, we're going to invest more.' If the governor doesn't want to then he can say he doesn't want to. That's what he's said so far." McBride said he would use the extra money to help fund his goals of increasing teacher salaries, reducing class sizes and providing universal pre-kindergarten education. A 50-cent tax on cigarettes, more than double the current 33.9-cent tax, would raise $565-million, McBride said. He also wants to repeal enough sales tax exemptions to generate $420-million, but he was vague on which ones. Like the other gubernatorial candidates, including Republican Gov. Jeb Bush, McBride said schools are his top priority. He has been endorsed by the state teachers union and arrived at the state Democratic convention in Orlando Friday in a school bus. The Bush campaign dismissed McBride's plan as vague and loaded with exaggerated estimates of how much money it would raise. Democratic front-runner Janet Reno was noncommital. "I'd have to look at it," Reno said. "What I have said all along is what we've got to do, before we start talking about new taxes, is talk about making sure that the money sent by Florida taxpayers is being spent in the wisest way possible." Sen. Daryl Jones, another Democratic gubernatorial candidate, said the state needs to look at waste before considering tax increases. "He's showing his inexperience," Jones said. But West Palm Beach Rep. Lois Frankel, the fourth major Democrat in the race, thought it was a good idea. "Cigarette taxes are being used all over the country to fund education, and it shouldn't be controversial," she said. McBride is the first major Democratic candidate to offer specific ideas for increasing school funding. While "sin taxes" on alcohol or tobacco tend to be the least controversial, any candidate calling for higher taxes takes a political risk. "This is the typical Democratic approach, and that is tax people first and worry about where the money goes later," said Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan, a former state education commissioner who estimated McBride's goals would cost $48-billion over 10 years. McBride, a Tampa lawyer, contends that Democrats and Republicans can agree on a plan to put more money into public schools. Indeed, a recent St. Petersburg/Miami Herald poll found improving schools the top priority of Florida voters and that most would pay higher taxes to help schools. "It's a risk with a possible silver lining," said Lance de Haven Smith, a political scientist at Florida State University. "Historically in Florida, the successful dark horse candidates haved been those that deal frontally with the issues." McBride's proposal would bring Florida's per-pack sales tax up to 83.9 cents and send the typical cost of name-brand cigarettes well above $4 a pack. McBride also would repeal a $50-million corporate tax credit for companies that contribute to a scholarship fund providing private school vouchers.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times state desk Lucy Morgan
From the state wire
|
