A group of lawmakers in Ketchikan, Alaska is pushing to get an island-wide tobacco tax increase approved, something they weren’t able to do in 2010. Last Friday, the Cooperative Relations Committee voted unanimously to work towards an excise tax for cigarettes and all tobacco products this year, according to an Associated Press report. The CRC is a joint group of the Ketchikan City Council and the Ketchikan Gateway Borough Assembly. While the group did not announce a specific increase they will seek, in 2010 the borough sought a $1 per pack and 45 percent tax increase on other tobacco products. Ketchikan is the fifth largest city in the state, home to approximately 8,250 residents.
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