Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is proposing an excise tax on tobacco..

January 27, 2007 - Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell is proposing an excise tax on tobacco.. Pennsylvania may be the only state that does not collect any tax on cigars and smokeless tobacco products. Governor Ed Rendell is proposing an excise tax - on top of the existing sales tax - at a rate of 36 cents per ounce of smokeless tobacco and roughly 3.6 cents per cigar. It's part of his "Prescription for Pennsylvania" plan to raise $151 million to improve health care. Besides the traditional opponents to a smokeless tobacco tax they now have 2-powerful cigarette companies as allies - Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds. Both companies are test marketing moist snuff products in limited markets, but expect a wider rollout soon. Reynolds also owns the smokeless tobacco company Conwood which accounts for 16% of Reynolds'overall revenue. The excise tax on cigarettes has risen from 30 cents a pack in 2001 to $1.35 a pack in 2007 and maybe $1.45 later in 2007. It is claimed that the word 'stogie," a common name for a cigar, is derived from the name of a small town called Conestoga in Lancaster County (Monday, February 26, 2007, Timing may be right for state to institute tax on snuff, cigars; Bill Toland, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)