THE Commonwealth Healthcare Corp. supports increasing taxes on tobacco, sugary drinks and alcohol to improve public health.
In a white paper submitted to the House Committee on Health and Welfare chaired by Rep. Tina Sablan, CHCC said the World Health Organization recommends that a minimum of 70% of the retail price of cigarettes be the amount of taxes on cigarettes in order to increase the price high enough to ensure that tobacco is prohibitively expensive to use.
Citing the recommendation of the Pacific Monitoring Alliance for Noncommunicable Disease Action, CHCC said the government should likewise use the excise tax as a “public health tool to reduce alcohol consumption and harm from alcohol.”
To reduce sugar consumption, CHCC recommended imposing a tax on sugary drinks.
In 2014, lawmakers passed a bill to impose a four-cent per ounce tax increase on sugary drinks — it would historically have been the highest tax on sugary drinks in the nation.
But Gov. Ralph DLG Torres vetoed the bill, noting that it did not create a special account for revenue, was unclear on taxation, did not exempt small quantities brought in for personal use, and provided an ambiguous definition of “syrup” and “powder.”
CHCC said, “Health advocates have since then sought out Jim Krieger of Healthy Food America to assist them with redrafting the bill to address the governor’s concerns as well as to use best practices based on available research.”
