It's a sin - Greenville (NC) Daily Reflector

Editorial:

In his final budget proposal, Gov. Mike Easley set reform of the state's broken mental health system and pay increases for teachers as leading priorities. His $21.5 billion spending plan is expected to be the focus of the Legislature's abbreviated short session, which began on Tuesday.

While the governor has set noble goals with his budget plan, his reliance on higher cigarette and alcohol taxes to generate revenue misses the mark. Those so-called "sin taxes" should not be used in the manner Easley intends, and lawmakers should look elsewhere for funding.

The N.C. General Assembly returned to work this week against the backdrop of the looming November election, which has diminished expectations for ambitious action by lawmakers. Their focus will be Easley's budget proposal, his last as governor, which intends to modify the two-year spending blueprint approved last year.

The governor's $21.5 billion plan represents a 4.2 percent increase over the previous fiscal year and incorporates an estimated $492 million in unused state funds to address several areas of concern. Among these are a $68 million reform of the state's mental health system and a 7 percent pay hike for teachers. School administrators would receive a 6 percent pay bump and state employees would see a much smaller 1.5 percent increase.

To pay for those initiatives, the governor proposes increasing the so-called sin taxes, the revenue generated through the sales of tobacco and alcohol. The per pack tax on cigarettes would jump from 35 cents to 55 cents and would pay for the higher teacher salaries. An increase on the tax on beer, wine and liquor would help fund the mental health reform.

There is no question that Easley's goal is sound, since both mental health and public education warrant great effort and concern. The state's tax on tobacco is the seventh lowest in the nation, and the increase would make it the 12th-lowest. Considering the correlation between higher tobacco taxes and lower rates of smoking, especially among kids, that is an area worthy of consideration.

However, Easley's proposal begs the question of what the state hopes to accomplish with the imposition of higher taxes on those vices. Does it desire for its citizens to smoke and drink at rates sufficient enough to fund initiatives and salaries in the public interest? Does it not condone abuse by using cigarettes and alcohol consumption for higher teacher pay and mental health reform?

In fact, those are provisions that have broad public benefit and should be funded by equitably distributing the associated cost among taxpayers. That might require a tax increase in an election year, a decision untenable to lawmakers. Or it might prompt lawmakers to examine and reform the state's entire tax structure, a political Pandora's Box that officials in Raleigh have long lacked the courage to open.

Easley is right to want more pay for teachers. He is correct to focus on mental health reform. But he will need to convince lawmakers that all citizens should support those initiatives in a fair and equitable manner.