{"id":377599,"date":"2022-10-13T06:01:57","date_gmt":"2022-10-12T20:01:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=377599"},"modified":"2022-10-13T06:01:57","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T20:01:57","slug":"bill-to-increase-tobacco-taxes-will-disenfranchise-the-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/bill-to-increase-tobacco-taxes-will-disenfranchise-the-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bill to increase tobacco taxes will disenfranchise the poor\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a>
King-Nabors<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Asserting that it will be disenfranchising poor people in the community, Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors (R-Tinian) is strongly opposed to a bill that seeks to bring tobacco taxes to the recommended level, tie the tax rate to inflation, and invest revenues from the tax into health promotion and disease prevention. <\/p>\n

Appearing online at a public hearing on House Bill 22-54 at the Rota Mayor\u2019s Office conference hall that was conducted by the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs, King-Nabors suggested that a better approach would be incentivizing people to purchase items that are healthier, reducing the costs of living to live a healthier life, as opposed to taxing tobacco and beverage products. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s very important that we understand what this tax is asking. So when we\u2019re talking about whether it\u2019s sugar beverage, or alcohol tax, there are so many unintended consequences to the bill that\u2019s being proposed,\u201d the senator said. <\/p>\n

The House had already passed the bill and it is now before the Senate Committee on Fiscal Affairs. Rep. Christina E. Sablan (D-Saipan) is the principal author of the
\nlegislation.<\/p>\n

The bill seeks to update the definition of tobacco products in the CNMI\u2019s excise tax laws; bring tobacco tax rates to the recommended level; set tobacco tax rates to increase with inflation; and invest tobacco tax revenues in health promotion and disease prevention and control programs in the CNMI.<\/p>\n

At the end of the day, King-Nabors said, ultimately the people that are going to be affected by this legislation are those that don\u2019t have the means, because it would raise taxes on tobacco and on sugar drinks. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I want to make it clear because it doesn\u2019t spell it out in this legislation. What this legislation is hoping to do is curb diabetes, heart deficiencies, heart failure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Medically speaking, King-Nabors said, a lot of these components have to do with people\u2019s diets and own activities whether it be young adults or adults.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt isn\u2019t just about purchasing 24 sodas at the store. No, it is disenfranchising the people that don\u2019t have money in our community,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

King-Nabors said he recently had a meeting with one House member who smokes. He said the lawmaker stated that he\/she does not care how much they raise the tax on tobacco, as he\/she is still going to buy it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s good for you to say because you have the means,\u201d the senator said.<\/p>\n

He said his overarching argument to those who don\u2019t necessarily understand the full ramifications of this legislation is that it is going to affect everybody across the board.<\/p>\n

Hypothetically, King-Nabors said, if it\u2019s fine to tax beverages, how about taxing the icing on the cake for a daughter\u2019s, nephew\u2019s, or godson\u2019s birthday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat about taxing the lechon (roasted pig)? What about taxing the pork and beef that add cholesterol that the House is so adamant about?\u201d he asked, adding that the House underscored the need for this legislation so the government can take the money and give it to the healthcare system. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I\u2019m telling you right now, what you\u2019re doing is not going to save our healthcare system. Because you have a holistic problem, and just brought it down to sugar, brought it down to tobacco,\u201d he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n

King-Nabors said if there is really a concern for the healthcare system, why are they not taxing betel nut, considering there is a high rate of oral cancer in the CNMI. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey don\u2019t want to touch betel nut for the very same reason why we all understand that this tax is fraudulent,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

King-Nabors said people should instead be encouraged to walk, to eat a healthy diet, and lead healthy lives, as opposed to taxing those products. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo now when I have my daughter\u2019s birthday, it\u2019s going to cost me $100 to buy one case of soda? That\u2019s where we\u2019re going to end up?\u201d he asked. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Asserting that it will be disenfranchising poor people in the community, Sen. Karl R. King-Nabors…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":377602,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-377599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=377599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/377599\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/377602"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=377599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=377599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=377599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}