North Dakota House Rejects One Tobacco Tax Increase Proposal, One Still Active

On Friday the North Dakota House of Representatives voted 34-56 to defeat HB 1421, which proposed an increase from 28% to 43.5% of the wholesale price of cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products, as well as an increase on cigarettes, chewing tobacco and snuff.

The bill called for an increase on the cigarette tax from $0.44 per pack to $1.54, while the tax on chewing tobacco would have gone from sixty cents per ounce to $2.72 per ounce, and snuff from 16 to 73 cents per ounce.

The vote to defeat the bill comes after the House Finance and Taxation Committee that offered a 12-2 do-not-pass recommendation on Wednesday.

There is still an active bill in the state senate, SB 2322, that seeks to raise the tax on cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco products –chewing tobacco and snuff again excluded–from 28% to 50% of the wholesale price. The tax on chewing tobacco would be increased to $2.10 an ounce and snuff to $0.56 per ounce, while the tax on cigarettes would jump to $2 per pack.

That bill is currently slated for a hearing by the Senate Appropriations Committee on Monday, Feb. 16.

Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for Major League Baseball, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.