Bob Dole: “nearly every Senator in this body agrees we should not increase the tax burden on low-income individuals and families.…”

“nearly every Senator in this body agrees we should not increase the tax burden on low-income individuals and families. Unfortunately, the bill before us would do that by raising the tobacco tax by 156 percent. No other Federal tax hurts the poor more than the cigarette tax, according to the Tax Foundation. Of the 20 percent of the adult population that smokes, around half are in families earning less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. Furthermore, a massive and highly regressive tax increase on an already unstable product is a terribly irresponsible way to fund the State Children's Health Insurance Program. My amendment is very simple. It creates a 60-vote point of order against legislation that includes a Federal excise tax increase that would disproportionately affect low-income individuals, defined as taxpayers with earned income less than 200 percent of the Federal poverty level. A majority of my colleagues say they oppose increasing the tax burden on lower income families, or even oppose tax increases outright. I, therefore, would expect that this commonsense amendment would receive tremendous support in the Senate.”