Tobacco Tax Bill Stalls

West Virginia won’t have new cigarette taxes. A push to raise West Virginia’s tobacco taxes has been voted down by a House committee. It would have raised the cigarette tax by 45 cents to $1, worth $71.5 million yearly. Delegates opposed a Senate bill including a $1 cigarette increase to $1.55-per-pack, higher taxes on other tobacco products and an e-cigarettes tax. The Senate version would have yielded $115 million annually. West Virginia faces a $466 million 2017 budget shortfall.