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Bush isn't buying cigarette tax hike

The governor doesn't support a proposal to boost the per-pack tax on off-brand cigarettes.

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday he would "have to be convinced" to support a proposed 40-cent additional per-pack tax on cigarettes made by companies not involved in a settlement the state is receiving to cover the cost of treating sick smokers.

"This is raising taxes," Bush said.

Bush is a staunch foe of tax hikes, and so is House Speaker Johnnie Byrd, meaning the bill that passed the Senate Monday may have a poor chance of even reaching the governor. The House has not considered it, and the session is scheduled to end Friday.

The Senate's bill would start with a 20-cent tax on packs of off-brand cigarettes this July and increase it to 40 cents next year. A youth antismoking program would receive $16-million annually from the new tax, which would raise an estimated $120-million in its first two years.

Bush had lobbied lawmakers to fund the antismoking program, but he never suggested they create a new tax to do it.

All cigarette makers now pay a state excise tax of 34 cents per pack. The four largest - Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson and Lorillard - also pay Florida hundreds of millions of dollars a year to help defray Medicaid costs incurred in treating smoking-related illnesses.

The smaller cigarette companies say the added tax would force them to raise prices to the level of major brands, a move the companies say could reduce their market share to the point they would have to close their doors.