Gazette-Times Editorial Board, June 14, 2007
A nasty partisan bit of last-minute sleight-of-hand sent the "Healthy Kids Initiative" down for a third count Thursday. This one is going to come back to bite the Republicans at election time.
Barring some fancy legislative footwork in the Senate, it appears that voters will be deciding on this tobacco tax increase.
This never should have been a partisan issue. The lack of affordable health care to children of impoverished parents is one of those things we end up paying more to resolve. Increasing the tax on cigarettes tax by 84.5 cents a pack would have created a large insurance pool for at least the next six years.
Needy children could have qualified to obtain medical and dental services at a subsidized rate. The state's legislative fiscal office estimated that the tax increase was enough to offset the loss of smokers expected to quit rather than pay.
Rural communities also would have benefited. Through negotiations with their Republican colleagues, the legislation's sponsors - including Corvallis Rep. Sara Gelser - agreed to concessions that provided for improved prenatal care and assistance to clinics in rural areas where such clinics often provide the only accessible medical care.