NEWS RELEASE
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For Immediate Release – Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Contact: Corey R. Lewandowski (603) 894-5881
E-Mail:CLewandowski@afphq.org
 
Citizen Group Speaks Out Against State Cigarette Tax Increase
WINDHAM, NEW HAMPSHIRE— Americans For Prosperity, a grassroots free market group, claims a 25 cent hike in the state cigarette tax would ultimately put New Hampshire citizens on the hook to pay for bigger government.

“Relying on a declining source of revenue, such as a cigarette tax, to pay for new government programs and support higher funding levels for existing programs, amounts to hoodwinking taxpayers into an unfunded-mandate that that they will eventually be forced to foot the bill for,” said AFP- New Hampshire’s State Director Corey Lewandowski.

Legislators voted in the spring to increase the tax if revenues didn't hit $50 million by the end of the quarter. Americans For Prosperity claims New Hampshire state government overspent taxpayer money, expecting tobacco taxes to pay for the spending spree.

“Cigarette taxes do little to curb smoking and much to feed politicians’ addiction to hard-earned tax dollars,” said Lewandowski.
Many smokers avoid the higher taxes by crossing state lines or seeking other venues of purchase. As a result, state government targets homeowners, consumers, and working families to pay for its spending spree.
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 Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is the nation’s premier grassroots organization of citizen leaders working at the state and local level and committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP educates and engages citizens in support of restraining state and federal government growth and returning government to its constitutional limits. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org.