Controller to Fight Cigarette Tax Lawsuit

Friday, January 8, 1999

Controller to Fight Cigarette Tax Lawsuit
Court: Tobacco trade group says Proposition 10 violates Constitution. State official defends measure.
By CAITLIN LIU, Times Staff Writer

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tate Controller Kathleen Connell on Thursday denounced a lawsuit filed by a group of retail tobacconists who are seeking to halt the implementation of Proposition 10--the initiative approved by voters in November to raise cigarette and tobacco taxes.
     The lawsuit, filed this week by a group representing sellers of cigars, pipes and related products, contends that the initiative violates the state Constitution because the commission it created to oversee spending of money generated by the new tax, the California Children and Families First Commission, is not under state control.
     The suit also says there is a lack of connection between a tax on tobacco and the early childhood development program that the new tax would fund. The lawsuit asks that implementation of the tax be suspended.
     "The state Constitution says that the state cannot appropriate state funds that are not under the exclusive management and control of the government," said Edward Lozowicki, the attorney representing the tobacco sellers.
     "The commission created by Prop. 10 is not under the control of the normal legislative budget process. The commissioner does not report to the governor or anyone else in the executive branch of the government."
     Moreover, he said, the tax violates the "single subject rule" of the state Constitution, which, he said, prohibits the funding of a program with a tax on an unrelated product.
     But Connell, standing in front of a playground full of toddlers at a news conference at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles, defended the initiative.

Continued

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