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May 2008
Smoking tax for teacher pay?
Gov. Mike Easley is proposing that the state raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes by 20 cents to help fund a pay increase for public school teachers. The matter will be debated in the short session of the General Assembly, now under way. Although raising the tax on cigarettes could be a good idea, in that it may help convince some people to quit, we wonder if the state wants to tie teacher pay to cigarette smoking — something that generally is discouraged. What do you say?