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.
Send news tips, feature ideas, photos to editor Angela Gary at angela@mainstreetnews.com
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