State Senate committee OKs a Philly cigarette tax

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

[Updated, 6/26]

by Holly Otterbein for NewsWorks

A proposed tax on cigarettes in Philadelphia, which critics once called D.O.A., just moved one step closer to reality.

The Pennsylvania Senate Finance Committee gave the preliminary OK to a bill Tuesday that would allow the city government to enact a $2 tax on every pack of cigarettes.

Philadelphia’s City Council has already approved the tax, but it still needs state authorization. It would raise an estimated $45 million for the city’s troubled schools next fiscal year.

The state bill now heads to the Senate’s Appropriations Committee. If successful, it could go before the full Senate this week.

Pennsylvania Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, does not object to the proposal.

If the bill makes it to the House, it will face serious obstacles.

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