For those who have been following the SCHIP expansion program, you
are probably in the same boat as I am. You are trying to figure out
how much of an increase in tobacco taxes you'll be paying, but you
can't seem to get an explanation anywhere.

Well, after a couple of hours worth of research, here is what I've
come up with. I am no lawyer, so anyone who is please correct me if
I'm wrong here.

There are apparently 2 separate bills for the SCHIP expansion (at
least 2, there are actually probably 200). But for purposes of our
discussion, we're concerned with mainly these two.

The first is S2499, which just passed. The 2nd is HR976, which has
been vetoed.

S2499 re-authorizes the SCHIP program. There is no tax increase in
the bill. HR976, which by the way, was co-sponsored by Dennis Moore
and Nancy Boyda, is the bill that attempts to pay for it with
punative tobacco taxes.

Although HR 976 has passed both the house and senate, President
Bush's veto has held so far.

votesmart's explanation of HR976 can be found here:

http://votesmart.org/issue_keyvote_detail.php?cs_id=16062

It contains a summary of the tax increases. They're scary folks.