PA House passes cigarette bill to fund Philly schools

The Pennsylvania House passed a bill that includes a local $2-a-pack cigarette tax that is set to help close the budget gap for the School District of Philadelphia on Monday. The 114 to 84 vote comes two weeks after the first day of school for Philadelphia public school students.

The school district estimates the tax could bring in up to $49 million in revenue, helping to partially close up the $81 million dollar gap. The PA Senate still has to pass the bill and Governor Tom Corbett would have to sign it into law.

The Senate could debate the legislation as early as Wednesday and Newsworks reported that Corbett has promised to sign the legislation.

The bill has been contentious to some members of the PA House because of additional provisions tacked on to the bill. Last Tuesday, the House “cleaned up” the bill — known as HB 1177 — removing language that included revision of provisions for city revitalization and improve ment zones as well as authorizing an increase in hotel taxes in some counties. A stipulation about charter school appeals remains part of the bill.

Other opponents did not support the bill because they do not think it is appropriate to fund schools with a cigarette tax.

Director of the Adolescent Communication Institute of the Annenberg Public Policy Center Dan Romer said that a tax may have a disproportionate effect on some Philly residents. “Two dollars to a poor person is going to be a bigger increment than to a wealthy person,” he said. In 2012, 27.9 percent of adults were living below the poverty level compared to 17 percent of adults living at or above it, according the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

He mentioned the idea of taxing cigarettes has been around for a long time because of public health concerns about cigarette consumption. The evidence exists that a tax is a deterrent to smokers, he explained, giving New York City as an example of a low-smoking rate paired with a high tax rate on cigarettes.

“[Philadelphians who live below the poverty line] need schools and we are taxing them. We are asking them to shoulder the burden by paying this tax,” Romer said. “That’s the inequality problem with it, but at the same time we are encouraging them to smoke less.”

This House vote has been several months in the making.

In late July, the House chose to go on summer recess without voting on the bill. School started before the house reconvened on Sept. 15.

Superintendent William Hite called the cancelled July vote “devastating to the students, staff and families of The School District of Philadelphia” in a press release from Aug. 1. Because the budget was not decided before the first day of school, Hite was forced to then consider two options: delay starting classes or lay off about 1,300 employees due to the lack of essential funds.

Both options were avoided as of Aug. 15 when Governor Tom Corbett advanced $265 million to the district in an effort to open school doors on time and avoid the layoffs — but it was money the district was already counting on receiving later, not the new revenue the district needs.

To avoid these options, the district also enacted $32 million in money-saving cuts that included leaving school police vacancies unfilled and cleaning facilities less frequently. They also negotiated with vendors to reduce costs.

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