Bipartisan opposition sinks proposed Oklahoma cigarette tax

OKLAHOMA CITY — A proposed tax increase on cigarettes that was a key piece of a budget deal between House Republicans and Democrats has been rejected with bipartisan opposition, a vote that will likely send budget writers back to the negotiating table with less than two weeks before the end of the legislative session.

House members voted 63-34 on Monday in favor of the $1.50-per-pack tax increase, 13 votes short of the 76 needed for a tax increase to pass the House.

Fourteen Democrats joined 20 Republicans in voting against the bill. House Democratic leader Rep. Scott Inman and some of his Democratic colleagues have insisted they wouldn’t support a cigarette tax increase without a plan to raise the gross production tax on oil and natural gas.

http://www.swtimes.com/news/20170515/bipartisan-opposition-sinks-proposed-oklahoma-cigarette-tax