cigarette tax

The budget will also increase the state’s cigarette tax by $1, to $5.35, though lawmakers rejected Hochul’s proposed ban on menthol cigarettes.

The budget would raise the state cigarette tax from $4.35 to $5.35 per pack.

Before the pandemic arrived, the state also used money from a cigarette tax to increase its rates for home nursing for children under Medi-Cal, amid complaints from agencies that the rates had been too low to recruit and retain nurses.

A new state tax on vaping materials will start in July 2022, while a cigarette tax increase sought by health advocates was rejected.

A previous Senate-backed plan for lower tax levels had been lambasted by health advocates and the Indiana Chamber of Commerce as inadequate and far below the state’s cigarette tax.