And now:Ish <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes: Cigarette foes attack state tax reimbursement to tribes http://www.jsonline.com/news/Metro/990221cigarettefoesattackst.asp By Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel staff February 21, 1999 Wisconsin's Indian tribes received more than $11 million from the state for selling cigarettes last year, and that's drawing fire from an anti-tobacco group upset that the state is spending less than one-tenth that amount on anti-smoking efforts. Under a 16-year-old agreement, the state reimbursed Indian tribes $11.3 million for cigarette taxes last year, a jump of $3.5 million over the previous year. The state reimburses tribes 70% of all taxes collected on cigarette sales to non-tribal members and 100% of the taxes for sales to tribal members. The Tobacco-Free Wisconsin Coalition is questioning why the state is spending only $1.4 million on stop-smoking initiatives such as TV commercials and billboards, yet reimburses $11 million to the tribes. "There's no good public policy reason to take our general revenue dollars to transfer it to tribes so they can sell low-cost cigarettes," said David Ahrens, executive director of the coalition. "If we're going to do anything with $11 million, let's deal with the issue of people who want to quit smoking." In an interview, Gov. Tommy G. Thompson said the state budget he unveiled last week includes a provision to cut the amount of cigarettes taxes returned to the tribes to 50%. State officials also have discussed the issue with the tribes during gambling compact negotiations, he said. "That's going to be very controversial," said Thompson. Since the state cigarette tax increased by 15 cents, to 59 cents, last year, "tribes are getting much more money. They're getting a bigger break," the governor said. Added Administration Secretary Mark Bugher, "You can argue the tribes won't lose any money" with a change in percentage because the per-pack tax is higher. "We think it should be more in line with 50-50." An official with the Oneida tribe declined to comment on the issue. Phone messages left for chairmen of the Ho-Chunk, Lac du Flambeau and Menominee tribes were not returned. Wisconsin signed an agreement in 1982 to return 70% of cigarette taxes to tribes that sell cigarettes at casinos and stores. The only tribe not included in the agreement is the Bad River band of the Chippewa, which sells cigarettes without state tax stamps to tribal members and packs with stamps to non-tribal customers. In the beginning, the reimbursement to the tribes wasn't a lot of money, but as state cigarette taxes went up, so did payments to the tribes. Then the tribes began selling many more packs of Marlboros, Newports and Lucky Strikes. When the payments first started, state legislators probably saw it as a way to provide financial assistance to Wisconsin's tribes, Ahrens said. "But as cigarette prices and cigarette taxes have increased, it has become a substantial cost for the state at the same time it's become quite lucrative for the tribes," he said. Cigarette sales have boomed for the tribes. In 1982, when the law into effect, tribes sold 19 million packs at 25 cents less than non-tribal sellers, according to Department of Revenue figures. Last year, tribes sold more than 27 million packs with a price difference of 41 cents. In fiscal year 1996-1997, the state returned $7.74 million to Indian tribes. The large increase the following year was due mostly to the increase in cigarette taxes from 44 cents to 59 cents per pack in November 1997. The amount of reimbursed taxes to the tribes increased from 31 cents to 41.3 cents per pack. State Rep. Peter Bock (D-Milwaukee) said the Legislature should look into changing the percentage of cigarette taxes returned to tribes from "both a public health standpoint and from a revenue standpoint." Bock said the deal is unfair to non-tribal stores that sell cigarettes in the vicinity of tribal smoke shops. Typically, those businesses must sell cigarettes at a lower price, but without the tax advantage, to compete with the tribal stores. "I, too, don't want to be taking money from the tribes, who, in many cases, are in rough situations. But the policy here seems to be you're making available cheap cigarettes, which works at cross purposes to raising the cigarette tax last year," said Bock. "We raised it by 15 cents to discourage kids from taking up smoking." Many smokers buy their cigarettes from tribes, even traveling many miles to do so. Such cigarettes are much cheaper since tribes must charge only 18 cents in taxes on each pack. Because they sell so many cigarettes in a relatively small number of locations, tribal smoke shops often get hefty discounts from manufacturers. "Our problem is not that the tribes make an extra $11 million, but it gives these low-cost islands to the tobacco industry," Ahrens said. "It drives down the prices of cigarettes all around those places. As a matter of good health policy, higher cigarette prices mean more people giving up smoking." &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&& Tsonkwadiyonrat (We are ONE Spirit) Unenh onhwa' Awayaton http://www.tdi.net/ishgooda/ &&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&