High cigarette taxes give Illinoisans a financial reason to sneak in smokes from other states. Illinois is among the 10 states with the most smuggling.
Excise taxes have failed to improve Illinoisans’ health while creating an undue burden for those with the least. But lawmakers have yet to kick the habit.
A $1 cigarette tax hike included in Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s infrastructure plan will make Illinois’ tax on cigarette packs among the highest in the nation.
Between the push for a graduated income tax, his budget address and newly released capital plan, Gov. J.B. Pritzker has proposed an onslaught of backdoor tax hikes on all Illinoisans.
The upward march of Illinois’ core cost drivers – pensions and government worker health insurance – cannot be paid for by tax hikes on small groups. Without reform, tax hike proposals on all Illinoisans will continue flowing from the Statehouse.