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349 days ago
The following is a press release from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets advising all responsible consumers of tobacco products to make their voices heard on this subject. It is imperative that we all band together and speak out against this unfair taxation of a small segment (less than 10%) of society for a program that has universal concerns. Why put this on our back? A Call to ACTION on SCHIP Tax Increases ! If Congress passes a bill early in 2009 to expand the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by significantly increasing the federal cigarette and tobacco taxes, the fallout from this expansion of government subsidized health care will likely include major cigarette and tobacco sales reductions, large increases in the number of store robberies because the value of tobacco products would be so high, a floor stocks tax on cigarette and tobacco inventory adding up to an estimated $5,000 per store, employee layoffs and even store ...
370 days ago
Industry Lobbyists' Consensus Sees Compromise Holding For Next Round of SCHIP Deliberations November 21, 2008 - As rumors continue circulating about SCHIP in 2009, CAA's and IPCPR's lobbyists, along with several industry consultants, met to share new information and prognostications regarding legislation to renew and expand the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). While tempered with a bit of caution, all parties participating on the conference call remain confident the compromise that was reached and agreed to by Congressional leaders will be incorporated into yet-to-be reintroduced SCHIP legislation. General consensus among industry lobbyists and consultants holds that despite campaign rhetoric, the reality of governing, particularly in the economic circumstances faced by all segments of the economy, will prove difficult for the new Administration's legislative priorities to be quickly approved. With those caveats in mind, there ...381 days ago
Now that there isn’t a Republican in the white house to kill it, Congressional Democrats claim to be making SCHIP a Top Priority. CQ Politcs reported on Friday, November 6th that Democrats in the US Congress plant to move quickly in the New Year to pass a major expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was interviewed on National Public Radio the day after the election and stated that the expansion of SCHIP “will probably be one of the first bills we would put on President Obama’s desk.” For those who recall recent events, the US Senate and House both passed a $35 billion dollar SCHIP expansion bill TWICE but it was vetoed both times by President Bush and the legislative branch was unable to swing enough votes to over-ride the veto both times. What Does This Mean To You? Why is this important to pipe and cigar smokers you may ask? Well, because this bill would be funded almost exclusively on the backs (and out of the ...
709 days ago
From a press release: Current SCHIP Program to be Extended to 2009 Veto Override Attempt of Current SCHIP Legislation Unlikely As you know, the President vetoed the current SCHIP legislation on December 12. The House leadership has scheduled a vote for January 23 to attempt to override that veto. It appears that the House will not be able to muster the 2/3 vote necessary to override the veto. Late last week there was talk regarding a short term extension of the current SCHIP program through March 31, 2008. However, on December 17, negotiators agreed to extend the current SCHIP program through March 31, 2009 with a small increase in funding necessary for the states to maintain their current enrollment through that date. There will be no increase in tobacco taxes to fund that modest increase. While it is always possible that Democrats will introduce another SCHIP bill in 2008 to force Republicans to vote on the issue, it now appears likely that the issue will be pushed ...
714 days ago
President Bush Vetoes SCHIP Expansion Bill For The Second Time President George W. Bush on December 12th vetoed for the second time legislation aimed at expanding the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) by $35 billion over five years exclusively funded by increases in the Federal excise tax rates on tobacco products, saying "our nation's goal should be to move children who have no health insurance to private coverage, not to move children who already have private health insurance to government coverage." President Bush had vetoed the original SCHIP bill on October 3rd, arguing that the $35 billion expansion is too costly, took the program too far from its original intent to help the poor, and would be a step toward federalizing healthcare. The US House on October 18th sustained the presidential veto in a 273-156 vote. In a bid to win over more Republicans, US House Democrats on October 24th proposed a new version of the SCHIP bill that retained the amount ...
