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Override Jindal’s Veto

The Louisiana Legislature has passed and sent to Gov. Bobby Jindal a measure that makes permanent the state’s 4-cent cigarette tax.

Jindal has promised to veto the legislation, saying it is essentially a tax increase.

The argument over whether extending a tax is the same as a tax increase is a semantic one. Without the state action, 4 cents of the current 36 cents per pack would expire. But it is difficult to cast the measure as a tax increase since the tax is already in place.

In either event, the 4 cents is insignificant to the people who will pay it.

Depending on the brand, a pack of cigarettes costs up to about $5 in Louisiana.

A pack-a-day smoker, then, could spend about $1,800 per year on cigarettes.

The 4-cent tax, meanwhile, comes out to 28 cents per week for a person who smokes a pack a day. That adds up to $14.56 per year. Compared to the total amount that person spends on cigarettes, the tax is a miniscule amount, unlikely to make much of a difference either way.

Taken as a whole, though, that portion of the cigarette tax generates about $12 million a year for the state.

In the scheme of a budget that counts into the tens of billions, $12 million might not seem like much. But in difficult financial times, that $12 million would have to be made up somewhere, either in increased revenue or in decreased spending.

So what will happen if Jindal vetoes the cigarette tax? No one is sure.

The legislators who voted for the tax extension are close to the number that would be needed to override a veto, but how many legislators would want to defy the governor?

Both sides have worked to solidify their support.

The governor has lobbied the Republicans in the Legislature to stand with him against the tax.

Supporters of it, meanwhile, have argued that it is one way to discourage smoking cigarettes. They, too, have tried to shore up support for a possible override.

Either way, the relatively small tax is unlikely to make much difference to smokers.

Because it is so small and because it is already in place, this is a tough time to try to do away with it.

Jindal’s veto would put a further strain on state coffers that already face hardships due to falling revenue and increasing costs.

The competing pressures have forced repeated cutbacks in state services such as Nicholls State University.

This is not the time for the governor to go to the mat in favor of reducing a small tax.

There is every indication, however, that Jindal will veto the tax extension. If he does so, the Legislature should override the veto.

Lawmakers should refuse to allow the governor to cast the debate in terms of a tax increase. Instead, they should remember that tough economic times demand sacrifices — in this case a small sacrifice that is already being made.

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