$2 tax on cigarettes passes City Council committee; liquor increase nixed

This article was originally published in The Notebook. In August 2020, The Notebook became Chalkbeat Philadelphia.

by Tom McDonald for NewsWorks, a Notebook news partner

Philadelphia’s budget process is moving forward as a key City Council committee approved a cigarette tax to help the schools.

The bill creating Mayor Nutter’s proposed $2-per-pack cigarette tax was among six approved Wednesday by Council’s committee of the whole. Nutter has offered several proposals to help the School District fill a $300 million budget shortfall.

The new tax would force some to give up smoking, predicted Jonathan Kirch of the American Heart Association.

"You have a real opportunity to reduce the suffering that will be experienced by the people of this city for years to come," he said.

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