From the Topeka Capital Journal: Cigarette tax hike, food sales tax cut fail to pass muster in Kansas …

<p>Rep. Henry Helgerson, D-Wichita, failed to win backing for an amendment elevating the state’s per-pack tax on cigarettes from $1.29 to $2.79. His plan was to create more financial incentive for people to stop smoking and to generate new revenue to help reduce the long-term unfunded liability in the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System. (File photo illustration/The Capital-Journal) </p> Carmichael said hitting Kansas with one more sales tax increase would be improper, despite indirect health benefits of a higher tax on cigarettes.

“Do I want to raise a terribly regressive tax?” Carmichael said. “I suggest that is terribly wrong.”

Read the full story at http://cjonline.com/news/local/state-government/2017-04-02/cigarette-tax-hike-food-sales-tax-cut-fail-pass-muster-kansas