Opinion Writers Discuss Merits of Tobacco Tax Hike
In a Sacramento Bee opinion piece, Bee editorial writer Pia Lopez and Ben Boychuk -- associate editor of the Manhattan Institute's City Journal -- discuss Proposition 29, a June ballot initiative that would increase California's tax on cigarettes by $1 per pack to raise funds for cancer research and smoking cessation programs. Lopez argues that a tobacco tax hike in California is "long overdue," while Boychuk says Prop. 29 "is more ballot-box budgeting, which has exacerbated California's fiscal woes."
- "Head to Head: Should State Raise Tobacco Taxes for Research, Cessation Programs?" (Boychuk/Lopez, Sacramento Bee, 5/24).