Chewing Tobacco & Gas Taxes will impact primary voters the most
Something seems to have been in the Water over on the House side of the State Capitol the past 48 hours. First a 125 Gas Tax Hike slips out of Committee (while
gathering national attention) on its way to the House Floor & taxpayers wallets and then yesterday comes a contentious Bubba-tax on smokeless tobacco that many speculate will have implications for the way things are debated on the House Floor for the remainder of the Session.
For those wondering about the nature of all the bills being brought out of left-field for consideration on the House floor these days said The Lone Star Times recently Paid Volunteers? Good grief. I thought the Texas House had more Republicans than it apparently does. Whats with all of the Democratic sponsored bills passing?"
The Bubba Tax comes under the oh-so-cleverly-veiled cover of a were just trying to incentivize & boost the number of physicians in rural parts of Texas" bill which as was pointed out during floor debate has been debated extensively & defeated the past two legislative sessions. The only problem statistically & historically is that government incentives dont work conservatives loose both primary & general election races when the cede their anti-tax mantle to those sure to attack them for backing tax increases.
The end run backers used to pass move the effort through the House yesterday paired the unlikely twin brothers of different mothers" Warren Chisum (R-Pampa) and Sylvester Turner (D-Houston).
They teamed up to successfully to add the smokeless tobacco tax pitting Big tobacco companies vs. Little tobacco onto a fairly unrelated bill already on the House floor.
The shift claimed to benefit only hundreds of doctors and their student loan balances and the tax implication from an excise tax on the consumer is an estimated $90 million tax increase.
Many Austin prognosticators believe how smokeless tobacco products like chewing tobacco pouches plugs snuff and others are taxed constitutes a diversionary base argument that in reality is of little importance as it relates to the future of some members political careers.
Chisum craftily attached his Bubba Tax on smokeless tobacco to a bill by Rep. Al Edwards (D-Houston) in order move his stalled HB 1876 which raises smokeless tobacco taxes by basing the tax on weight rather than sales price. Chisums bill had been holed up in the House Calendars Committee.
Perhaps the biggest surprise was not passage of the bill itself but rather that the following 25 House Republicans voted for the bill - or as argued during debate voted to bring doctors to rural areas across Texas:
Rep. Aycock
Rep. Callegari
Rep. Chisum
Rep. Christian
Rep. Craddick
Rep. Crownover
Rep. Darby
Rep. Davis
Rep. Hancock
Rep. Hildebran
Rep. Hughes
JRep. ackson
Rep. P. King
Rep. S. King
Rep. Kolkhorst
Rep. Laubenberg
Rep. Legler
Rep. Morrison
Rep. Otto
Rep. Parker
Rep. Shelton
Rep. Smithee
Rep. Swinford
Rep. Truitt
Rep. Zerwas
The shift from an excise tax is estimated to raise $90 million which will be used to pay down the student loans of doctors who agree to locate in rural areas.
Given that expections are unlikely the bill will be debated in the Texas Senate movement of the Bubba Vote" is what many legislators are rightfully worried about.
