A bill to raise the tax on cigarettes by 50 cents per pack was sent to the Senate floor this morning (Thursday, May 7, 2009) but without any plan to spend the revenue.
The 16-5 vote by the Senate Finance Committee comes two days after the panel deadlocked on the issue over disagreement on how to spend the money.
The panel this morning specified only that $5 million be spent for lung cancer research at the Hollings Cancer Center in Charleston. The remainder of the projected $144 million to be collected beginning July 1 would go into a trust fund.
Lawmakers would decide later how the funds would be spent.
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