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Action Alert: Cigarette Tax Vote scheduled for May 5 |
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H.3584, Speaker Harrell’s legislation to increase the cigarette tax by 50 cents is scheduled to be considered by a subcommittee and the full Senate Finance Committee next Tuesday, May 5. We are sending this alert to you because your senator is a member of the Finance Committee and their support is critical to enacting this legislation prior to the General Assembly adjourning May 21. This adjournment date is two weeks earlier than normal, so quick action is absolutely necessary. Even though we believe that we have a majority of votes to pass the legislation, we are looking ahead to a likely veto by Governor Sanford, so we need to firm up a “veto-proof” majority (32 of 46). The House of Representatives passed the legislation with such a vote.
Bill Summary
This year’s version of the legislation is slightly different than last year’s in that it does not contain a direct Medicaid expansion piece. Instead, the majority of the revenue from the increased tax will go for a premium assistance program very similar to last year’s proposal. A key difference is that the legislation requires SCDHHS to apply for a waiver from CMS that will permit a substantial portion of the revenue used for premium credits to be matched at the FMAP rate. The legislation is modeled after a similar program in Oklahoma. Oklahoma received such a waiver under the previous administration and we are reasonably confident that South Carolina will receive the same favorable consideration. The legislation also has a specific percentage (20%) of the revenue dedicated to a high risk pool, another feature similar to last year’s bill.
Message
We are asking members of the Senate to accept the House passed version of the legislation with no substantive changes to the program. There will be a few technical amendments offered to clarify some areas of the bill, but if we are going to be successful this year, we need a bill that follows the same programmatic parameters as the House overwhelmingly accepted.
Please call your Senator before Tuesday on this important vote. For your Senator’s contact information click on the link below. Even though your Senator will not be back in Columbia until Tuesday, please call the Capitol office number and leave a message asking him to vote in favor of H.3584.
With your help we can communicate how important it is for the cigarette tax to be used for health care! As always, we appreciate any feedback you receive from your legislator. If you would like to share any communications you can reply to this e-mail.
Thank you for your efforts on this critical issue!
2008 Cigarette Tax Vote:
Senators Supporting:
Senator Thomas Alexander
Senator Robert Hayes
Senator Dick Elliott Senator William O'Dell
Senator Darrell Jackson Senator Nikki Setzler
Senator Hugh Leatherman Senator David Thomas
Senator Yancey McGill Senator John Land
Senator Clementa Pinckney Senator John Matthews
Senator Ralph Anderson Senator Ronnie Cromer
Senator Glenn Reese Senator Phil Leventis
Senator Michael Fair
Senators Opposing:
Senator Larry Grooms
Senator Greg Ryberg
Senator Danny Verdin
Senator Harvey Peeler
Senator John Courson
No Vote in 2008
Senator Kevin Bryant
Elizabeth Burt
Director, Federal and Member Advocacy
South Carolina Hospital Association
1000 Center Point Road
Columbia, SC 29210
803-744-3541
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www.schaLEAd.org
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