(AP) — A contentious proposal to raise Louisiana’s tobacco tax has survived repeated attempts to derail it that would have made it nearly impossible for the bill to gain final passage.
The state House spent much of Tuesday afternoon locked in a series of procedural debates over whether to refer Rep. Karen Carter Peterson’s tobacco tax bill to other committees or sidetrack it from House floor debate. Those efforts failed.
The full House is expected to debate the proposal next week. But Peterson, a Democrat from New Orleans, still faces a tough road to passage. She would need to garner a two-thirds vote for passage, and the bill faces opposition from Gov. Bobby Jindal.
The bill would raise Louisiana’s cigarette tax by 50 cents per pack, with similar increases for cigars and chewing tobacco.—-Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]