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Cigarettes and Schools Don't Mix
By Al
Ruechel | 04-17-02
Beware the temptations of cigarettes
or you could end up getting burned. I'm not talking about the
nicotine fix or the taste and aroma that seems to cast a spell over
otherwise reasonable people. I'm talking about the temptation by
politicians to believe cigarette tax revenue and tobacco settlement
dollars can solve all of our fiscal woes. Pardon my pun, it's a huge
smoke and mirrors game that sends all the wrong kind of messages to
our kids.
The latest to jump on the cigarette
lottery is Democrat Bill McBride, a Tampa lawyer running for
governor in the state of Florida. He wants to raise taxes on a pack
of cigarettes by 50 cents to help fund education. He says it would
raise an additional $565-million dollars a year for the state's
woefully under funded education system. He'd then add another
$420-million by closing tax loopholes. Bingo, there's another
billion dollars to try and silence the screams of parents like me
who can't understand why neither Republican or Democratic
administrations have given 110 percent to the effort to build a
solid funding base of education here in the sunshine state. We've
been in the bottom third of all the numbers so long it's no wonder
we feel like we've climbed up to the penthouse when we move our
rankings up for 48th to 43rd.
I'm angry and skeptical and ticked
all at the same time. After all, this is the state that established
a lottery on a lie. Voters were told that if we approved a lottery
the funds raised would be used to enhance education. So what
happened? Lawmakers in their infinite stupidity used the funds to
supplant the general education budget. The end result is that
educators face a crisis every year wondering if they will have
enough money to meet the minimum standards much less have any money
left over to enhance programs. And we parents wonder which programs
are going to be cut again and again and labeled unnecessary in order
to scrape through another school year. Sorry, no books this year in
math! The arts? Those aren't necessary! You don't need a band
program! Would you mind terribly if we charged you parents of the
football team and soccer teams rent to use the bleachers! Let's just
drop that pesky 7th period. Six is a nice round number.
The problem is and always will be in
Florida the funding mechanism. We don't have a state income tax and
unless everyone over the age of 50 instantly shrivels up and dies
that's not likely to change. So we use this Jamaican voodoo formula
with 41 percent of the budget coming from property taxes, 2 percent
from the lottery, 6 percent from other sources and a whopping 51
percent from sales and corporate taxes. Translated: if we have a
great year and a lot of tourists there is just enough money to go
around. If the tourist don't come we get bit in the butt. Oh yes,
did I mention growth! Some where in that formula, the budget is
supposed to go up to cover for growth. In reality, in real dollars
it never does!
So, then why am I so down on
McBride's cigarette tax? After all, Florida does have one of the
lowest tax rates on cigarettes in the country. And cigarette smoking
does cost the nation $7.18 for each pack sold in terms of health
care expenses and lost productivity. The St. Pete Times says it
makes great public policy because it will discourage smoking at the
same time it generates new revenue for education.
I disagree. It makes lousy policy
because it makes education dependent on those poor smokers digging
themselves an early grave. This is blood money. If smoking is so bad
for you, and I truly believe it is, then why not ban it all
together. Instead, politicians see it as a cash cow. The huge
11-billion dollar tobacco settlement just added more resolve to our
Robin Hood act. And smokers aren't screaming back because they are
afraid if they make too much noise about paying an extra 50-cents a
pack that someone may try to ban smoking all together.
Am I the only one listening? This is
hypocrisy at it's worst. Come on kids don't you dare start smoking
because it could kill you. Come on you smokers don't stop buying
those cigarettes because we need that extra 50-cents to keep our
schools up and running. Let's create a lie to cover up another lie
that we really care about the quality of education our kids are
getting in Florida.
If politicians in Florida really
cared about making our kids smarter and more successful they would
create a funding mechanism that doesn't change like the tides in
Tampa Bay. The fact is, no one has the guts to expose this shell
game for the shame it has become. You can't get elected in Florida
if you tell it like is. This is the land of Mickey Mouse and
Cinderella, where they always live happily every after. Far be it
for me to disturb that myth, even if I happen to be right.
P.S. If you don't live in Florida let
this serve as a warning. Beware when your lawmakers start dipping
into the tobacco well to cover their inaction. It's a cowardly,
immoral act, which will probably go unnoticed unless YOU catch them
in the act.
Al Ruechel, copyright 2002, all
rights reserved
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