Soldiers' Angel - Holly Aho

This article is worth a read today, 3 smokers sue for 75 cent-per-pack fee. The essence of the story is that at the beginning of 2005 Minnesota started imposing a 75 cent per pack fee to cigarettes. That fee (which we all know is a tax), was called a 'health impact fee' or 'user-fee' by governor Tim Pawlenty who ran a campaign of 'no new taxes' (we've all heard that before) and therefore didn't want to call it like it is.

Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch ruled last month that the fee was illegal and unconstitutional and ordered that collections be stopped. His ruling came after the tobacco industry and distributors challenged the state's ability to levy the fee, saying a 1998 settlement of the state's tobacco lawsuit absolved the industry of any further responsibility for smoking-related health costs.

So, where is the state considering sending the illegally collected 'user fees' if this ruling is upheld? To the tobacco manufacturers. Does this make sense to anyone else? Let's recap:

State imposes illegal tax and pretends it isn't a tax. Tobacco manufacturers pass the fee onto the buyers. Buyers pay the fee. Tax is overruled and overpayment goes to the manufacturers. I bet the tobacco companies are just loving this decision. For the past year they have been able to raise their prices by 75 cents per pack, to pay this tax, and will now be refunded this money, even though they never spent it in the first place.

When I heard it I was annoyed. After all, the smokers are the ones paying the tax. The smokers are after all, the users! The smokers are the ones with a 'health impact'. Any way you look at it, whether you call it a tax, a user fee or a health impact fee, the only ones that paid it were the smokers. So why isn't that money being refunded to the very people it was supposed to 'help'? Why isn't that money going to those very same people that paid it in the first place?

Here's another one for ya. This user fee? This health impact fee? It wasn't going towards healthcare for smokers or quitting programs in case you were curious. Unlike a gas tax which actually goes to pay for the roads you drive on (which is the correct way to impose a user fee), the funds collected from this tax went into Minnesota's general funds. This is government at its worst. Taxes that aren't taxes, user fees that don't benefit the users, refunds that don't benefit the spenders. I wholeheartedly hope these 3 win this lawsuit and I'm asking, "Where do I sign up to join you?"