True or False:
Are Rhode Island lawmakers smarter than New Hampshire lawmakers?

Yes!!!

Well, at least when it comes to tobacco taxes! This past legislative session, bills were filed in both New Hampshire and Rhode Island to roll back the cigarette excise tax – supposedly to lessen the tax burden on smokers. Members of Rhode Island's House Finance Committee wisely killed the proposal to reduce the cigarette tax by $1 per pack after considering ample testimony that proved it would be a bad idea for public health and for the state's financial health.

However, New Hampshire lawmakers approved a 10-cent reduction in the state tobacco excise tax and now they have egg on their faces. Seems that when the tax went down, Big Tobacco tricked smokers (and lawmakers) by adding another 10-cents to the cost of cigarettes to fatten their own wallets. Now they're laughing all the way to the bank. Check out these articles and a great blog post from the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids to get the real scoop on what really happened when our Granite State lawmakers trusted Big Tobacco over common sense and data. This makes us even prouder to be in Rhode Island!

Cigarette tax cut must be repealed
Seacoast Online
December 03, 2011
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Cigarette tax cut burning revenues
Nashua Telegraph
November 9, 2011
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4 Months In, Cigarette Tax Cut No Help
Nashua Telegraph
November 3, 2011
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N.H. Cigarette Tax Cut Failing to Boost Sales
Convenience Store News
November 3, 2011
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A New Hampshire Giveaway to Big Tobacco
House Speaker O'Brien blamed for helping tobacco industry at taxpayers' expense
July 28, 2011
TobaccoFreeKids.org
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Tobacco price increase offsets N.H. tax cut
SeacoastOnline.com
July 24, 2011
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Smoke clears to show the ugly truth
SeacoastOnline.com
July 24, 2011
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