A TOBACCO tax bill remains pending before the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs.
“We hope that they will pass that…so that additional funds can go to public health and address some of their needs,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Donald Manglona, referring to House Bill 22-53.
Introduced by Rep. Tina Sablan, the bill proposes to “update the definition of tobacco products in the CNMI’s excise tax laws; bring tobacco tax rates to the recommended level; set tobacco tax rates to increase with inflation; and invest tobacco tax revenues in health promotion and disease prevention and control programs in the CNMI.”
To discuss the bill, the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, which is chaired by Sen. Victor B. Hocog, has scheduled the following public hearings:
• Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2:30 p.m. at the Rota mayor’s conference hall.
• Thursday, Oct. 13, 10 a.m. at the Tinian courthouse.
The House version of the fiscal year 2023 budget measure included provisions to impose a tax hike on tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverages, but these were not included in the final version of the bill that the governor signed into law Saturday.
Manglona said they agreed to remove the tax provisions because funding was identified for the House’s main concerns.
The administration and the Senate, for their part, said the tax provisions were “riders” whose inclusion was “unconstitutional.” They should be introduced in a separate bill, the administration and the Senate said.
Certain members of the local business community, for their part, said the proposed beverage tax “is a huge regressive tax on local consumers, and an enormous burden on local businesses.” They said it is unfair and discriminatory to single out beverages. “A beverage tax is regressive and will dramatically impact low-income families,” they added.
Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, in an interview, thanked the Senate for separating the tax provisions from the budget bill.
“The House wants to act on it separately,” he added. “I’m not going to encourage it because last time [the House] said that I’m the one encouraging them, after not believing in my leadership. Then all of a sudden, they’re listening to what I’m supposedly advising them to do? They want to do that, then they can go ahead and do it.”
