Gov. Polis: Boost Cigarette Taxes To Fund Schools, Health Care

DENVER, CO — Colorado Gov. Jared Polis is asking voters to approve a significant tax hike for cigarettes and nicotine vaping devices, according to reports. The additional revenue would go to schools, tobacco cessation and lowering health care costs, Polis said, the Denver Post reported.

If voters agree, the tax on cigarettes would jump from 84 cents a pack up to $2.59, and vaping devices would be taxed at 62 percent of their wholesale price, the Associated Press reported. This would amount to an estimated $300 million annually.

The Denver Post reported Polis as saying the state has a "moral imperative" to combat teen vaping, and called the phenomenon an epidemic.

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Voters rejected the same tax increase in 2016 in a 46 percent to 54 percent loss for the measure.

This time, however, Polis sees teen vaping as a powerful enough motivator for voters to pass the measure. “Last time this was brought forward there was not yet a teen vaping crisis,” Polis said, according to the Post. “This is in many ways an appropriate public response.”

Polis said Colorado has the highest rate of teen vaping in the country.

See the AP report here.