Do your part to help reduce smoking in Wisconsin

Contact your legislators and urge them to support the $1.25 tobacco tax increase

The Joint Finance Committee - the State Legislature's powerful budget-writing committee - is currently in the process of rewriting Governor Doyle's budget proposal. As you know, the Governor included a $1.25 per pack cigarette tax increase in his proposal.

As public health professionals and citizens lobbyists, it's our job to help insure the Joint Finance Committee keeps the tax increase in the state budget bill.

Tax History:

In an effort to prevent Wisconsin kids from smoking and help current adult smokers quit, Governor Jim Doyle has proposed raising the cigarette tax by $1.25 per pack (from $0.77 to $2.02) in the 2007-09 state budget. According to the non-partisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the increased tax would raise roughly $500 million in new revenue over the next two years. The funding would be dedicated to paying the MA cost of tobacco-related illnesses. The tax will also prevent over 84,000 children from smoking and lead 42,000 adults to quit.

What you can do to help:

Call, write or e-mail your legislators - As Soon as Possible - to ask for their support and urge them to encourage their colleagues on the Joint Finance Committee to retain the $1.25 per pack increase in the budget. If your legislator serves on the Finance Committee, it's especially important for you to contact their office without delay (a list of Finance Committee members and the areas they represent is attached).

Please feel free to use the attached fact sheet from Smoke-Free Wisconsin on the benefits of the tax when communicating with your legislators. Whether you call, write or e-mail your legislators, remember:

• Identify yourself as a constituent and public health professional;
• Clearly state your position;
• Use personal stories (how tobacco use affects public health in your community); and
• Ask for their position

If you're unsure who your legislators are or don't know how to contact them, please reference the "Who is your Legislator" website at http://waml.legis.state.wi.us/. You will also find attached to this e-mail a legislative directory of all State Assembly and Senate members.

In addition, if you do make a legislative contact, please let WPHA Executive Director Eric Ostermann know as soon as possible so we can track our success and develop the best possible strategy to meet our goals. He can be reached at wpha@wpha.org.

Thanks - and good luck!