Sen.
Bergstrom issues statement on ruling on smoking cessation fee
Senator
Micheal Bergstrom, R-Adair, issued a statement Thursday regarding
the Supreme Court’s ruling striking down the cigarette fee and
declaring it an unconstitutional tax:
"As
I sat in the courtroom and listened to the arguments in the Oklahoma
Supreme Court on Tuesday, I came to the conclusion that the smoking
cessation fee we passed last session was in serious trouble. This
morning the court ruled that the fee was unconstitutional.
“The
court made the right decision. That means, however, that $215 million
must be cut from the budget, primarily from the Department of Human
Services, the Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse
Services and the Oklahoma Health Care Authority, or we have a special
session to fix this.
"I
expect we will go into a special session. This is too important. It
must be addressed, and preferably sooner than later."
-END-
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