Rep. Jim Wayne, D-Jefferson, has introduced H.B. 220, a bill that makes adjustments to a wide range of taxes in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, including premium cigar taxes.

Wayne’s proposal would see taxes increase to 40 percent the wholesale cost, up from the current rate of 15 percent. Currently, nine other representatives have co-sponsored H.B. 220, but it remains unclear how realistic passing the Democratically-controlled House or the Republican-controlled Kentucky Senate.

Any bill of this size is likely to go through substantial modification before it passes.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.