{"id":4177,"date":"2018-06-07T19:51:21","date_gmt":"2018-06-07T19:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4177"},"modified":"2018-06-07T19:51:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-07T19:51:21","slug":"complaint-filed-over-big-tobacco-funded-effort-to-oppose-montana-tobacco-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4177","title":{"rendered":"Complaint filed over Big Tobacco-funded effort to oppose Montana tobacco tax"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A group is proposing a $2 a pack tax increase to help raise funding for Medicaid in Montana.<\/p>\n

For Montana, that is a big tax increase and such a proposal is likely fighting an uphill climb in maybe the most Libertarian state in the country. You might be surprised to know that about 10 years ago, Montana voters did approve a $1 a pack cigarette tax hike. But, times have changed. People have become more extreme in their positions since then.<\/p>\n

Anyway, the group behind the measure, Healthy Montana, filed a complaint against a group opposing the measure — Montanans Against Tax Hikes, for illegal campaign behaviour, including not reporting expenditures and making illegal robocalls to Montana voters.<\/p>\n

First thing I thought was, “oh, I bet MATH is actually funded by Big Tobacco.”<\/p>\n

Sure enough, from a Missoula Current article:<\/a><\/p>\n

The complaint says Chuck Denowh, the treasurer for MATH, also filed a letter with the Montana attorney general in April, \u201copposing the proposed ballot statements for I-185 on behalf of Altria Client Services LLC and Rai Services Company, whose parent companies dominate the tobacco market, controlling roughly 86% of the market share in 2016.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Sure enough, as we all know Altria is the company formerly known as Philip Morris. And Rai Services Company, I had to Google. It’s the parent company of — you guessed it — RJ Reynolds.<\/p>\n

Quelle shock, huh? So MATH is bankrolled pretty directly by Big Tobacco.<\/p>\n

Anyway, this just blew me away, incredibly, one of the robocalls offered people $100 if they called back. I’d love to know if anyone actually received their $100.<\/p>\n

Montana’s current tobacco tax is $1.70 a pack, which is almost exactly the national average ($1.68 a pack).<\/p>\n

Anyway, in addition to the cigarette tax increase, the proposal would also increase smokeless tobacco taxes by 33 percent and taxes on vaping products. I’ll be keeping on eye on this ballot measure in November. Again, this being Montana, where the sheep are nervous and the taxes are detested, I can’t hold my breath about its chances.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A group is proposing a $2 a pack tax increase to help raise funding for Medicaid in Montana. For Montana, that is a big tax increase and such a proposal is likely fighting an uphill climb in maybe the most Libertarian state in the country. You might be surprised to know that about 10 years … Continue reading Complaint filed over Big Tobacco-funded effort to oppose Montana tobacco tax<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[39,65],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4177","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-montana","category-taxes"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/montana-tobacco-tax.png?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-15n","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4189,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=4189","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":0},"title":"Montana puts huge cigarette tax increase on ballot","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"September 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Another ballot measure to watch. Montana recently put a $2 a pack cigarette tax increase on its ballot to help pay for Medicaid programs. And sure enough, a fishy organization that is quietly funded by RJ Reynolds and Altria is putting out a massive advertising campaign to stop it. Having\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Cigarette taxes"","block_context":{"text":"Cigarette taxes","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=382"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Knudsen-and-Big-Tobacco-716x1024.jpg?fit=716%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Knudsen-and-Big-Tobacco-716x1024.jpg?fit=716%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Knudsen-and-Big-Tobacco-716x1024.jpg?fit=716%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Knudsen-and-Big-Tobacco-716x1024.jpg?fit=716%2C1024&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3696,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3696","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":1},"title":"Another attempt being made to raise cigarette taxes in California","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 30, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"You might not believe this, but cigarette taxes in California are among the lowest in the entire U.S. California's cigarette tax is only 87 cents a pack, which is barely half of the average $1.50 a pack state tax in the U.S. \u00a0California has the 35th-highest state tobacco tax rate\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "California"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=350"},"img":{"alt_text":"golden gate bridge","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/golden-gate-bridge.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":291,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=291","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":2},"title":"American Lung Association: You all FAIL!!!","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"And you! And you! And you, too! And you, three!! The American Lung Association came out with its annual \"State of Tobacco Control\" report this week, and not surprisingly, pretty much every state got failing grades. In fact, Montana was only one of five states in the entire nation that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American Lung Association"","block_context":{"text":"American Lung Association","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=6"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/theloungeisback.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/01\/reactsummit08groupphoto.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3933,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3933","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":3},"title":"Big Tobacco files litigation, raises $17 million to fight California tobacco tax","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"August 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Big Tobacco has already filed bullcrap litigation attempting to get a ballot measure removed from the November 2016 ballot that would raise the California cigarette tax by $2 a\u00a0pack.\u00a0And on top of that, the industry is planning to spend at least $17 million in order to defeat the measure. Big\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "California"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=350"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/smoking2-698c0074376bea246f3fcf5ab527a5cc.jpg?fit=750%2C510&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/smoking2-698c0074376bea246f3fcf5ab527a5cc.jpg?fit=750%2C510&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/smoking2-698c0074376bea246f3fcf5ab527a5cc.jpg?fit=750%2C510&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/smoking2-698c0074376bea246f3fcf5ab527a5cc.jpg?fit=750%2C510&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3977,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3977","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":4},"title":"California voters raise cigarette tax by $2 a pack","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"November 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 Lost in all the hubbub over this election (and a reason why I waited a week and a half to post about it) was California voters approving a $2 a pack increase in their cigarette tax. California will go from having one of the lowest cigarette taxes in the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "California"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=350"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/sjm-tobacco-09xx-021.jpg?fit=512%2C387&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":429,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=429","url_meta":{"origin":4177,"position":5},"title":"Lance Armstrong campaigns for higher cigarette tax","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 1, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Anti-smoking and anti-cancer advocate Lance Armstrong now appears to be moving full-time into cancer advocacy. A couple of years ago, Lance campaigned pretty strongly for a smoking ban in Texas. He didn't win that round, but since he started speaking out, several large cities in Texas have imposed smoking bans,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Anti-tobacco campaign"","block_context":{"text":"Anti-tobacco campaign","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=7"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/theloungeisback.files.wordpress.com\/2011\/03\/lance_armstrong1.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4177","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4177"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4177\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4178"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4177"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4177"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4177"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}