Oregon's Measure 50, the Healthy Kids Program, and More Tobacco Taxes

Measure 50 is probably the newest and most controversial measure that has entered the Oregon Ballot for 2007 since it became the first and only state to allow doctor-assisted suicide. Governor Ted Kulongowski has been hard at work to push this new measure, citing that the raising of taxes will make consumers spend less money for cigarettes and more money will be generated by the state in order to get underpriveledged school children health insurance and possibly some adults on the Oregon Health Plan that are in desperate need of it. While similar measures such as Measure 44, 20 and others have been passed with great success and have made tobacco prices even higher, what is the point of raising them even more in order to generate revenue if there may be other funds that may be used?

While Kulongowski has received great support from such organizations such as the Oregon Education Association and other non-smoking activists and lobbies, he has made it his mission to make sure that the ballot passes. While he may have the best interests of Oregon's kids on his mind, there are also other things that have been done against those who smoke who are in the state, and he may not realize that he could be damaging Oregon's economy by placing even further restrictions on people who are current smokers. For instance, as of 2009, smoking has been banned from all lounges, bars, and gambling establishments in the state. This will mean the great possibility of a higher unemployment rate, as many of those who work in restaurants and other areas of food service may have to look to assistance programs such as Welfare, WIC, and unemployment checks in order to get by. Why, you may ask? The simple reason is that if their jobs are gone due to the fact that their places of business close due to low sales from bans and measures such as these, it means that hundreds, if not thousands of workers are looking at the unemployment line in the hopes that they might get lucky and land another job. Also, places such as these provide great revenue for the state government, in the way that all restaurants that serve liquor have to obtain OLCC licenses in order to serve alcohol, which cost $100 per person or even more per establishment, and they have to maintain those strict guidelines in order to stay in business or end up with horrendous fines. Fines are also another way that the state makes revenue for programs. So, the next question is that with even these as what I term 'cash cows', where is all of the money going that is supposed to be used by the state to fund programs such as Healthy Kids?

What of the Oregon Lottery? The Lottery was imposed not just as a way for people to have a little fun and win a good score of cash every now and then, but also as a way of maintaining a constant cash flow. What most people may not know is that in Oregon, all places that have Oregon lottery machines only receive 35% of whatever they make on them. The rest of that money immediately goes to the state government. So, what of this money and why is it not being applied to this program? Oregon, on all of its local networks, air commercials saying what great things that the Oregon Lottery has done, and yet I, myself, have not seen any of these wonders that the Oregon Gaming Commission so purports that we have. In my city alone, our unemployment rate is atrocious, nearing in the 6-7% range, and assistance programs are constantly being drained due to the harsh reality that jobs are very scarce, and my city is 88,000 people and climbing. If the Oregon Lottery is also available for the Healthy Kids program, why is it being utilized to conserve state parks,(in example), instead of for the funding that the state needs, such as health insurance for children?

The measure if it passes stands to gross $153 million dollars in its first two years from 2007-2009, and then $233 million from 2009-2011. If it also passes, Oregonians are looking at paying an extra $2.03 in taxes along with the packs' original price, making cigarettes costing over $7.00 a pack! This would make Oregon one of the highest cigarette-taxed places in the country next to Washington, which is in second place. The last time that I had heard of a price this astronomical was from an old friend that I had known in Canada, who was paying the same price then in her province while others were paying just a little over $4.00 here in the States. Again, quite an astronomical leap in nine years! The money would go towards the children at 2/3rd's what the ballot will create when it passes, with the rest being put towards helping some adults get onto the Oregon Health Plan. Lastly, not only would this happen but that there would actually be an amended law within the Oregon Constitution that would include everything that this now tobacco tax would include, and it does not just go for cigarettes, but also cigars and other tobacco products. In a post on the official website of the 'Bend Bulletin', a local Southern Oregon newspaper, a statement was made about smokers in Oregon that stated simply that they were in a minority and came from a lower tax and financial bracket, and that was why they smoked. Now, while this, in my opinion, sounds very prejudiced, as there are people that are in higher tax brackets that smoke just as much as those who are from lower incomes, it doesn't change the fact that Oregon's government is picking on smokers because they have the means to do so and that they can. Therefore, is the governor looking to punish smokers and attempt to win one for the health insurance industry?

As arguments have erupted back and forth within the Oregon legislature over the last few days, with one side saying that they are completely right and the other side saying they have no possibly way to argue what they consider to be the facts, what remains to be answered is why the sudden interest in the raising of cigarette taxes again? While the raising of taxes is good strategy when trying to generate revenue for much-needed programs, what remains to be seen is just how exactly Oregon is choosing to spend its money while not looking in other places and programs to find a more balanced way to proceed. With the current controversies that have arose about cigarette smoking and its effects on human health which have been with us since the early 1970's by such organizations as the American Heart Association, the American Lung Association, and many countless others that are health-oriented within our nation, why all of a sudden have states taken such a grave interest in how much a cigarette costs? It costs pennies to make, and it sells for nearly ten times what it was originally worth to make it, and people pay outlandish prices as it is to have them. In my hometown alone, a pack of cigarettes costs nearly $6 a pack, and nearly half of that is taxes. Smoking has been with us forever, and so has tobacco, and now in this new millenium, it is becoming the hot topic within the states, (and most especially my state). It seems that smoking fear has erupted across the country, and now with all of the commercials that have been airing nation-wide on the networks about the dangers of second-hand smoke and smoking itself it is not a wonder that legislators are making attempts at trying to outlaw smoking by any means possible, and it usually is in the form of raising taxes. If cigarettes cost too much, they hope that smokers will just quit smoking. While that may be a good cause, if not to further the person's health and longevity, does it not eliminate that person's freedom of choice?

Smoking, in itself, is truly a bad habit. But, there is also something that Oregon's legislators fail to understand....cigarettes are big business. Where big business resides, that also means revenue. If it is in the form of tobacco, with the current rate of taxes, the state is still making money at the current tax rate. With the proposed 84.5 cents increase, the state is not only looking to stand a great profit, but it begins to appear more and more like 'political carpet-bagging' than actual state-sanctioned legislature. Could the money that is made on tobacco sales not stimulate the growth in Oregon's economy that is so desperately needed? While it may be that it causes health risks to the consumer, it is still a legitimate strategy means for making money.

While I am not saying that children who have no means to obtain health insurance due to financial circumstances should not be looked after in the best interests of the child, there has to be other ways. From what I have read, seen, and observed, Measure 50 could very well devastate the economy of Oregon simply because the legislature wants to look good in the eyes of the rest of the country by placing stricter enforcement on not only waht people pay to smoke, but also where they can smoke. Another state made the attempt on maiing smoking illegal in the American home, which failed miserably within their own Congress. Is Oregon possibly going to meet that same fate?

While it may create a better and healthier Oregon for its citizens, it could also damage the economy to the point of no recovery, leading to the closure of places where people go to smoke or buy tobacco. Whether it be places to eat, drink, gamble, the local convenience store or grocery store or just to get out for the night, this legislation does not make sense. Not because it won't benefit our kids and help them lead healthier lives, but business-wise, it will be economic suicide.