FRANKFORT, Ky. (AP) — E-cigarettes are the only tobacco product in Kentucky not subjected to an excise tax but that could change next year.
News outlets report Reps. Jerry Miller and Kim Moser both proposed a bill Tuesday to place a 27.5% excise tax on all e-cigarettes. The amount equals the $1.10 excise tax on a pack of cigarettes.
Miller says the bill benefits the health of Kentuckians and predicts it would generate $35 million a year for the state's General Fund.
The Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky says e-cigarette usage among youth have nearly double from 2016 to 2018. President and CEO of the Foundation, Ben Chandler, says usage among pregnant woman is also growing.
Chandler says both groups are susceptible to price increases. The bill would benefit their health the most.
