JEFFERSON CITY -- The Missouri Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Store Association (MPCA) and their allies have begun the process of collecting signatures for their initiative petition that allows the people to vote on a 135% cigarette tax increase and 50% tax increase on other tobacco products (OTP) to help fund transportation infrastructure.
"It is our goal to place a fair and reasonable but still substantial 135% tobacco tax increase on the November 2016 ballot," said Ronald J. Leone, Executive Director of MPCA.
"Once fully implemented, this proposal will generate nearly $100 million per year in new revenue that will be used to repair and replace Missouri's dangerous roads and bridges," said Leone. "If passed, this proposal helps MODOT avoid a fiscal crisis and guarantees Missouri continues to receive $4 in federal funds for every $1 the state spends on highways," Leone continued.
MODOT is in the process of preparing proposals for the General Assembly to consider addressing transportation funding shortfalls, including a plan to address the backlog of 641 critical-condition bridges that need to be repaired or replaced.
The MPCA initiative petition is the only tobacco tax increase and transportation funding proposal currently being circulated in the state.
"We intend to collect the necessary signatures to get this on the ballot for the November 2016 election," Leone concluded.
IP Summary
►Cigarettes: 149.017.1. 135% tax increase on cigarettes (23¢ per pack) phased-in as follows: 13¢ per pack on 1/1/17; 5¢ per pack on 1/1/19; and 5¢ per pack on 1/1/21. Once fully phased-in, the total tax will be 40¢ per pack - 17¢ per pack existing tax + 23¢ per pack proposed by the IP.
►Tobacco: 149.017.2. 50% tax increase on "other tobacco products" (OTP, from 10% to 15%) effective 1/1/17. No phase-in.
►How Much Revenue Is Generated & Where It Goes: 149.107.3. Once fully implemented, the IP should raise approximately $100 million per year in new funds for transportation infrastructure.
►No Floor Tax: 149.017.4 & 149.017.5. The tax increases apply only to new purchases and not to cigarette and tobacco inventories.
►Tax Roll Back: 149.017.6, 149.017.7 & 149.017.8. MPCA is worried about getting hit with a second or even third tobacco tax increase after the IP passes. Thus, we've included a "roll back" provision which states if another tobacco tax increase is pursued by IP in the future then this 135% cigarette tax increase and 50% OTP tax increase would automatically and immediately be repealed and reduced to zero. This means the new IP group would be starting from the current tax of 17¢ per pack, and not 40¢ per pack, and from 10% and not 15% on OTP.
►Package Deal: 149.017.9. Non-severability clause. The IP is a package deal and the individual provisions can't be repealed or ruled unconstitutional by a court of law.