About The Banks County news. (Homer, Banks County, Ga.) 1968-current | View Entire Issue (June 18, 2025)
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2025 BANKS COUNTY NEWS PAGE 7A State News Lawmakers push for increase in cigarette tax By Ty Tagami Capitol Beat News Service Some Georgia lawmakers have been trying for years without success to raise Georgia’s tax on cigarettes, but some think cuts at the federal level may finally stir interest in their cause. State Rep. Michelle Au, D-Johns Creek, said she’s been trying for five years to get the Republican-led Georgia House of Repre sentatives interested in a study committee on the is sue, and leadership finally relented. The House Study Com mittee on the Costs and Effects of Smoking met for the first time Thursday. Members heard from smok ing cessation advocates, in cluding the American Can cer Society, the American Heart Association, Amer ican Lung Society and the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. They learned that, yes, cigarettes are still extraordi narily harmful to health — and that raising the cigarette tax would both discourage smoking and help to pay for the health consequences for those who keep smoking. There are at least 7,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, said Danna Thomp son, a regional director of advocacy for the American Lung Association, and 69 of them are known to cause cancer. Nine out of 10 lung can cer deaths are due to smok ing, which also is known to cause obstructive pulmo nary disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis and cor onary heart disease, among others, she said. “Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body,” Thompson said. The lawmakers also learned about the financial impact for everyone, due to rising health care costs and reduced productivity at work when smokers get sick. Experts said Georgia is spending hundreds of mil lions more on Medicaid for people sickened by smok ing than it gets from the cig arette tax. Only Missouri charges a lower tax than Georgia for a pack of 20 cigarettes, said Andrew Lord, a lobbyist for the Georgia Society of Clin ical Oncology. Georgia’s tax is 37 cents a pack, Lord said, adding that raising it to $1.37 would generate between $400 million and $500 million. That still wouldn’t close the gap on medical costs, according to Danny Kanso, senior fiscal analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. The cigarette tax current ly generates about $115 million a year, and Geor gia is spending about $850 million a year on Medicaid costs attributable to smok ing, he said. Kanso added that Georgia has plenty of room to raise the tax. New York state has the highest tax, at $5.35 per pack. Au, a medical doctor, is leading the charge for a tax increase, which is a dubious prospect in a legislature led by Republicans who gener ally oppose taxes. However, she has some GOP allies. A handful of Republican senators signed a 2019 resolution encourag ing the House, which writes the budget, to raise the cig arette tax to at least the na tional average to help offset indigent health care costs. And Au has three Repub lican signatures on House Bill 83, introduced this year, to raise the tax to 57 cents per pack. She said in an interview that federal budget cuts may be under- mining the traditional GOP opposition to tax hikes. The easiest way to kill a bill is to ignore it, she said, so the approval of the study committee is a sign of re ceptiveness to her idea. “The fact that they’re letting us talk about it ... shows a level of investment and interest that we did not have before,” Au said. Federal cuts are already having an impact. The Georgia Department of Public Health confirmed that it eliminated its Tobac co Use Prevention Program last month due to federal cuts. However, a spokes woman said “core” tobac co and vaping prevention and cessation programs, including the Tobacco-Free Schools and the Georgia Tobacco Quitline, were still operating. Courtlandt Fouche, the former director of the pro gram, said the loss of $2 million from the federal Centers for Disease Con trol and Prevention far outweighs the $750,000 the state directed to the program from the national tobacco lawsuit settlement fund. Fouche said he and his four managers were let go. One handled youth pre vention, another cessation in general, another sec ond-hand smoke exposure and the fourth program evaluations. Their outreach to chil dren, adults and local public health districts helped hun dreds, even thousands, quit smoking, he said, adding, now, those relationships are “completely lost.” State-wide drug trafficking investigation nets 11 arrests By Dave Williams Capitol Beat News Service Eleven people have been arrested on drug, gun, and other charges following an investigation into gang-re lated criminal activities in Middle Georgia. The Bibb County Sher iff’s Office launched Oper ation “Westside Wakeup” in January, with Georgia At torney General Chris Carr’s Gang Prosecution Unit join ing a short time later in the effort. The unit, which Carr launched nearly three years ago, has been expanded to include a new regional pros ecutor and an investigator based in Macon. “We’re working each day to disrupt and dismantle the growing gang networks that are terrorizing our commu nities, and those who en gage in violent crime will be held accountable,” Can- said. “This operation illustrates how the illicit drug trade reaches from the cell block to the city street,” Bibb County Sheriff David J. Da vis added. In addition to the 11 ar rests, the law enforcement agencies recovered about 17 pounds of marijuana, 1.28 pounds of powder and crack cocaine, three ounces of Ec stasy, one ounce of fentan yl, an array of firearms, and about $110,000 in United States, currency. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation, the federal Drug Enforcement Admin istration, the Bureau of Al cohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the FBI aided in the drug investiga tion. 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