Raising Michigan's $2-a-pack cigarette tax another 25 cents -- an idea floated by Gov. Jennifer Granholm -- would generate minimal revenue and encourage more smuggling from other states with lower cigarette taxes, according to a new study.
The report by three economists was commissioned by a lobby group for gas station convenience stores, which plans a news conference today. The study concludes that a 25-cent tax cigarette tax hike -- a 12.5% increase -- would produce 8.5% more in tobacco tax revenue.
The report says the 25-cent tax increase would cost convenience stores a combined $6.5 million because smokers, who buy other things at the stores, would buy fewer cigarettes or shop elsewhere, such as Ohio and Indiana, where tobacco taxes are lower.
State senators' spat won't require discipline
A state Senate investigation into a heated exchange between two members in a Capitol elevator June 17 found insufficient evidence of behavior that would require disciplinary action, Majority Leader Mike Bishop, R-Rochester, announced Monday.
Bishop, in a letter sent to Sen. Irma Clark-Coleman, D-Detroit, said he would not take any formal action against Sen. Roger Kahn, R-Saginaw, whom Clark-Coleman had accused of acting in a threatening manner during an argument over state spending.
The investigation by Senate staff concluded that there was little evidence beyond Clark-Coleman's assertion.
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