After Bills Fail In Legislature, Coalition Begins Drive To Get Cigarette Tax On Ballot
The proposal would extend tobacco taxes to electronic cigarettes, whose use by teenagers tripled between 2013 and 2014.
Los Angeles Times:
Health Groups Launch California Ballot Initiative To Raise Taxes On Tobacco, Including E-Cigarettes
Months after California's Legislature failed to act, a coalition of health experts and the state’s schools chief on Wednesday launched a petition drive to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would raise the cigarette tax by $2 per pack. The measure would reduce smoking and raise money to expand treatment services for Medi-Cal patients, support anti-smoking campaigns and boost medical research, said Tom Steyer, co-chairman of the Save Lives Coalition. (McGreevy, 1/20)