Hawaii politicians are having a tough time getting the message that more taxes are not the answer. But even with a $600 million budget surplus this year, many in the Hawaii Legislature cannot resist the urge to raise taxes.

SB 2961 is a new, regressive tax on cigarettes that would make Hawaii’s tobacco tax the highest in the nation and hit the state’s poor and small businesses owners the hardest.

Hawaii has the third highest state and local tax burden in the nation. With a huge budget surplus, now is the time to provide Hawaii’s over-taxed citizens much needed relief. The legislature should view this as an opportunity to give back the taxpayers’ hard-earned money instead of enacting the highest state cigarette tax in America.

Cigarette taxes typically push smokers to purchase their cigarettes through nontaxable options, like the black market or the Internet. As a result, they are not stable sources of revenue for the government and do not effectively deter smoking. Instead, heavy taxes on cigarettes end up hurting convenience store and gas station owners that bear the costs of lost business. For these entrepreneurs, cigarette sales represent a significant chunk of their earnings, accounting for 34.7% of all in-store sales nationwide.

Hawaii has a spending problem and NOT a revenue problem. Contact your elected officals and let them know the spending spree in Hawaii has got to stop. Urge them to defeat SB 2961!

TAKE ACTION!

Sincerely,

Dick Armey
FreedomWorks