Press Releases

Walz/Flanagan Tobacco Tax Proposals a Major Win for Health and Minnesota Kids

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation Urges Lawmakers to Invest Additional Funding in Tobacco Prevention, Treatment

ST. PAUL – The Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation coalition today thanked Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan for their bold tobacco tax proposals, which would be a major win for health and Minnesota kids. The Walz/Flanagan budget proposal would raise the price of vaping products and increase Minnesota’s cigarette tax by $1 per pack. Raising commercial tobacco prices is a leading strategy to prevent kids from using tobacco products, help smokers quit and save lives.

As part of these efforts, the coalition urges the Walz/Flanagan Administration and lawmakers to invest more funds in tobacco prevention and treatment. Higher tobacco prices – coupled with dedicated funding – are urgently needed to address Minnesota’s stalled adult smoking rates and youth tobacco epidemic. For more than two decades ClearWay Minnesota^SM, the foundation created with 3 percent of the tobacco settlement, has provided the majority of funding for tobacco prevention in Minnesota. ClearWay Minnesota will sunset at the end of 2021, leaving a gap in prevention resources. Last year, Minnesota took in nearly $760 million in tobacco revenue and spent only one percent of that total on commercial tobacco prevention and treatment.

“Minnesota kids targeted by Big Tobacco deserve strong tobacco prevention policies that put public health ahead of tobacco industry profits,” said Molly Moilanen, Vice President at ClearWay Minnesota^SM and Co-Chair of Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation. “Thank you to Governor Walz and Lt. Governor Flanagan for continuing to propose bold efforts to help adults quit and prevent the next generation of tobacco addiction. In addition to raising prices, we urge the Governor and lawmakers to invest a fraction of the new tobacco revenue in tobacco prevention and treatment programs.”

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of reducing youth smoking and ending tobacco’s harm for good. The coalition urges lawmakers to take a comprehensive approach to reduce youth tobacco use, including increasing tobacco prices, ending the sale of all flavored tobacco products and investing in tobacco prevention programs.

The COVID-19 pandemic accentuates the need for strong tobacco prevention and treatment programs. Current and former smokers are at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. To make matters worse, communities targeted by the tobacco industry, including Black and Indigenous Minnesotans, are some of the hardest hit by COVID-19.

Increasing tobacco taxes is a triple win for Minnesota because it will raise revenue while reducing health care costs and improving health. The American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids estimate that a $1 per pack increase would lead to major health gains, including 8,800 fewer kids becoming adult smokers, 16,200 adult smokers quitting and $533 million in long-term health savings.

The youth tobacco epidemic has erased decades of progress to lower overall youth tobacco use. Price can be a powerful tool to reduce these trends, since research finds that young people are two to three times more responsive than adults are to tobacco price increases. Every 10 percent increase in cigarette prices reduces youth smoking by more than 5 percent and youth initiation by 10 percent.

The CDC recommends that Minnesota spend $53 million per year in order to have an effective, comprehensive tobacco control program, yet Minnesota only spends a fraction of that sum. Thankfully, a majority of Minnesotans supports tobacco tax increases. A 2020 poll found 62 percent of Minnesotans support increasing tobacco taxes and dedicating that revenue to funding prevention efforts.

More info:

• Fact sheet: High Tobacco Prices = Fewer Kids Smoking
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: State Cigarette Excise Tax Rates and Rankings
• Fact sheet: Funding Tobacco Prevention and Treatment
• Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: Broken Promises on Tobacco Prevention Spending – Minnesota

About Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation

Minnesotans for a Smoke-Free Generation is a coalition of more than 60 organizations that share a common goal of saving Minnesota youth from a lifetime of addiction to tobacco. The coalition supports policies that reduce youth smoking and nicotine addiction, including increasing tobacco prices, ending the sale of menthol and all flavored tobacco products, and funding tobacco prevention and treatment programs.

Partners include: The African American Leadership Forum, Allina Health, Allina Health | Aetna, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Apple Tree Dental, Association for Nonsmokers – Minnesota, Aurora/St. Anthony Neighborhood Development Corporation, Becker County Energized, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, A Breath of Hope Lung Foundation, Cancer Legal Care, CentraCare, Children’s Defense Fund-MN, Children’s Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota^SM, Comunidades Latinas Unidas En Servicio – CLUES, Dodge County Public Health, Education Minnesota, Essentia Health, Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare, A Healthier Southwest, HealthPartners, Hennepin Healthcare, Horizon Public Health, Indigenous Peoples Task Force, ISAIAH, JustUs Health, LAAMPP Alumni, Lake Region Healthcare, Local Public Health Association of Minnesota, LPCFC – Lincoln Park Children and Families Collaborative, March of Dimes, Masonic Cancer Center – University of Minnesota, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Meeker McLeod Sibley Community Health Services, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Association of Community Health Centers, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Dental Association, MHA – Minnesota Hospital Association, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Nurses Association, Minnesota Oral Health Coalition, Minnesota Public Health Association, Minnesota Society for Public Health Education, MNAAP – Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, ModelCities, NAMI Minnesota, North Memorial Health, NorthPoint Health & Wellness, Olmsted Medical Center, Open Cities Health Center, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, Perham Health & Living, Preventing Tobacco Addiction Foundation, SEIU Healthcare Minnesota, ShiftMN, St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce, Steele County Public Health, Tobacco-Free Alliance, Twin Cities Medical Society, UCare, Vision In Living Life – Change is Possible, WellShare International and Zumbro Valley Medical Society. Find out more at: smokefreegenmn.org.