50-cent cigarette tax passes in Senate

The Senate gave final passage to a 50-cent cigarette tax increase Wednesday, closing debate, at least temporarily, on an issue lawmakers have wrestled with for years.

The vote to hike the cigarette tax, which has been stuck at 7 cents a pack since the 1970s, was 32-12, which is a slight erosion in support from the Senate's initial approval of the measure before Easter.

The increase goes to the House now, which approved a 30- cents a pack cigarette tax increase in its budget several weeks ago. 

Republican Gov. Mark Sanford is expected to veto the Senate measure, however.

If Senate support holds, however, the margin the bill passed with Wednesday is sufficient to override Sanford.

The major change made to the bill the Senate approved 10 days ago is where money will come from to fund an I-95 Authority for infrastructure development, and to promote S.C. agriculture.

That $4 million will now come from interest accrued by the tobacco settlement several years ago, which lawmakers said averages about $10 million a year.

Under the amended cigarette tax bill passed by the Senate, $3 million will go for infrastructure development in counties adjoining the high-poverty I-95 corridor, and $1 million will go for agriculture promotion.

Promoted by Sen. John Land, D-Clarendon, with the aid of Finance Committee chairman Hugh Leatherman, R-Florence, and Glenn McConnell, R-Charleston, the amendment earmarks the $4 million only when it is available and not otherwise obligated, lawmakers said.

The amendment, which was passed by the same 32-12 margin as the overall bill, was further altered by Sen. Greg Ryberg, R-Aiken, so that the I-95 provision automatically sunsets after five years, though lawmakers could vote to stop the subsidy at any time.

In order for the cash-strapped I-95 counties to receive the tobacco interest money, they must put up a $2 match for each $1 they receive.

Land said development along I-95 has not blossomed because there is no water and sewage service readily available along the interstate, which is a costly necessity for business development.

The Senate-passed cigarette tax increase also includes money for cancer treatment at MUSC in Charleston, and for smoking cessation programs, both of which also were included in the pre-Easter bill.