If passed, the Care for Moms Act will double the tax on many tobacco products.
A new proposed act to support maternal health could lead to cigarette and small cigar taxes doubling and substantial tax increases for other tobacco products.
The Care for Moms Act introduced by US Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois) and US Representative Robin Kelly (D-Illinois) supports maternal health workforce, promotes access to prenatal and postpartum care, and provides resources to mothers. However, the new act also includes provisions to increase the excise tax on tobacco products, reports CSP.
The provisions, as outlined by the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), are: increasing tax on cigarettes from US$1.01 to US$2.02 per pack; implementing a new e-cigarette tax that would equalize the tax on cigarettes; increasing the tax on moist snuff from US$0.11 per 1.2 oz tin to US$2.02 per can; doubling the tax on small cigars from US$50.33 to US$100.66; implementing a new weight-based tax methodology on large cigars; doubling the tax on roll-your-own tobacco from US$24.78 per pound to US$49.56 per pound; and equalizing the tax on chewing tobacco and pipe tobacco to tax them like cigarettes.
NATO pointed out that earlier legislative sessions had ended in failure for tax reform of a similar nature.
For instance, increasing the federal excise tax on cigarettes was suggested in an early draft of President Joe Biden's Build Back Better agenda, or the reconciliation package, in 2021, but it was eventually struck from the agenda.