Prop 56: Tobacco Products, Along With E-Cigs, Face Tax Hike

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SACRAMENTO (CBS13) – Proposition 56 would add $2 per pack of cigarettes. Right now the tax is $.87 per pack. The same $2 increase would be tacked onto other tobacco products, along with those e-cigarettes.

The extra revenue from Prop 56 would go towards things like cancer research, treatment of dental diseases, heart and lung disease research and tobacco use prevention programs at schools.

Meredith Wurden from the non-partisan Legislative Analyst's Office tells CBS13 "in some cases, it would be new money supporting existing programs and other cases it might be for newer programs depending on how the departments implement it, according to the measure."

Who's pushing this prop?

Among the groups, the California Democratic Party, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, the California School Board Association and the Sierra Club, just to name a few.

Those against Prop 56, which includes the California Taxpayers' Association, call the measure "a $1.4 billion 'tax hike grab' by insurance companies and other wealthy special interests to dramatically increase their profits."