April 23, 2007

LEGISLATIVE ALERT– Gambling,
Sudan Divestment, cigarette tax increase

Ask Legislature, Governor to defeat slot machine bill

In all likelihood, the Indiana General Assembly conference committee on House Bill 1835, slot machines, will be sent on to Governor Mitch Daniels during this week. This bill, if approved by both houses on these final revisions, will provide for as many as 2,500 slot machines at each of the state’s two horse racing tracks at Anderson and Shelbyville.

The Indiana Coalition Against Legalized Gambling sees this move as a new chapter in legalized gambling in Indiana with the introduction of two land-based racinos in Central Indiana.

The church’s concern on this legislation is the number of new gamblers in Central Indiana who will be addicted to this fast-paced form of gambling. More than one third of the money placed into those new machines will be used as state revenue probably in the form of property tax relief. What a terrible trade-off. Legalized gambling adds social and enforcement problems to the state and probably will not yield much income in the larger picture after the problems are taken care of. Currently, Indiana spends $ 1 million a week in enforcement related to the ten border casinos.

TODAY or sometime early this week, please take these two actions.

FIRST, call or e-mail your legislators, asking them to vote against HB1835 as it comes to both houses for final approval following the conference committee. If you need that contact information, log on to www.in.gov/legislative and click on “Who is your legislator?” Or, if you know, call your Representative at 317-232-9600 or your Senator at 317-232-9400.

SECOND, call the Governor’s office at 317-232-4567 or send the Governor e-mail by using the handy form available on his Web site at www.in.gov/legislative/contact/.

Here is what to say (clipboard this message if you need to do so):

Dear Governor Daniels,

Thank you for meeting with Indiana United Methodist Bishop Mike Coyner and other denominational leaders last month and for your public opposition to an expansion of legalized gambling in Indiana. As people of faith, we are counting on your leadership to stop an expansion of gambling with your veto of HB1835, a bill that you will likely receive from our state legislature to place racinos in Indiana’s two horse race tracks at Anderson and Shelbyville.

This expansion of legalized gambling will bring land-based casinos to Indiana and the first two casinos to Central Indiana. The negative impact upon businesses, families, local and state government, and the quality of life in Indiana will have long range and far reaching effects. This expansion will bring a new expansion of gambling addiction to Central Indiana.

Gambling is out of control in Indiana and we are counting on you to bring it in control with better enforcement and your opposition to legalized gambling. Gambling is not the legacy either you or we want to leave our children. Please veto HB1835.

Thank you for your service to this great state.

Sincerely,

An update on the Sudan divestment legislation

The Sudan Divestment language, that originally appeared in House Bill 1484, will be considered Tomorrow, Tuesday, April 24 at 11 a.m. at the State House in Room 156B.

The language will find a new home in HB1067 sponsored by Rep. David Crooks.

To assist in this process, please send Rep. Crooks a quick e-mail like this at h63@in.gov.

Dear Rep. Crooks,

Thank you on behalf of The United Methodist Church for your willingness to allow The Sudan Divestment language to be added to HB1067. You can and should be proud that his bill will be the home for such monumental legislation that will save lives and help end genocide in Darfur.

Sincerely,

The support for this Sudan divestment legislation has been remarkable. More than 800 people from across Indiana supported this legislation and the people of Darfur in a State House Rally on Sunday, April 15. From that rally, more than 700 signatures collected were copied and shared with legislators working on this legislation. Thank you for your support and continued prayers on behalf of the people of Darfur and those Darfurians living in the Fort Wayne area.

Cigarette tax increase to fund Governor’s health plan still in process this final week

SB503, the legislation with the potential to dramatically improve Hoosier health and save lives, is now in conference committee with both houses of the Indiana General Assembly. The true impact and content of the legislation will not be known until a conference committee and Governor Daniels come to agreement on a final bill this week. Indiana's leaders have an unprecedented opportunity to meaningfully address the state's number one preventable cause of death and disease – tobacco – by adding the following two elements to SB503:

• A cigarette tax increase of at least $1 per pack.
• Revenue to restore past cuts to Indiana's nationally recognized tobacco prevention programs run by the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC).

A $1 per pack cigarette tax increase combined with full funding for tobacco prevention and cessation programs will deliver the maximum health and economic benefit for Hoosiers. These steps will prevent kids from starting to smoke, help smokers quit, save lives, and save taxpayers money by reducing smoking-caused health care costs.

Tobacco tax: Why not a buck a pack?

Legislators have already agreed in principal to increasing the state’s tobacco tax as the main source of funding for the programs in SB503. The question now is, how high? Elected officials have discussed various increase amounts, but health experts and faith leaders have consistently recommended a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase (from 55 cents to $1.55) to generate the most significant health benefits. Science and experience have shown that when the tobacco tax is increased, more kids are prevented from smoking and more adult smokers quit. To view a table that shows the increased health and economic benefits from a $1 tobacco tax increase compared to smaller amounts, visit: www.tobaccofreekids.org/pdf/indianatax.pdf.

Increasing the cigarette tax by $1 per pack is a win-win-win for Indiana - a public health win that reduces tobacco-caused death and disease, a financial win that reduces healthcare costs and provides critical revenue for health programs, and a political win that is supported by a majority of voters. Indiana can expect a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase to prevent some 102,900 Indiana kids alive today from becoming smokers, save 45,600 Hoosiers from smoking-caused deaths, produce $2.1 billion in long-term health care savings, and raise more than $339 million in new revenue each year. In addition, the healthcare provisions in SB 503 are designed to be scalable to the amount of revenue available – the higher the tax, the fewer uninsured Hoosiers.

A poll commissioned in January by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and other leading health groups found that 62 percent of Hoosiers support a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase to fund health programs and tobacco prevention. Indiana's faith leaders have shown that this issue is even more popular within their communities, taking the unprecedented step of speaking with one voice and strongly urging the passage of a $1 per pack cigarette tax increase to fund tobacco prevention and health care.

If legislators are persuaded by the tobacco industry to pass only a small tobacco tax increase, they will needlessly leave more Hoosiers uninsured, allow more kids to start smoking, and miss a rare opportunity to reduce healthcare costs. There simply is no reason to side with the tobacco industry and pass a small tobacco tax increase.

In the last several years, five states have increased their cigarette tax by one dollar per pack, including Iowa just last month, and six more states have passed increases of at least 70 cents per pack, including both Ohio and Michigan. Even a $1 per pack increase would leave Indiana well below the tax rate in Michigan ($2 per pack) and Chicago (currently highest in the country at $3.66 in combined state, county, and city taxes).

To improve Hoosier health for generations to come, the Legislature must protect kids from tobacco by restoring funding for ITPC.

SB503 is missing a key children's health measure from Governor Daniels’ Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) – the restoration of funding for the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC), which was once a national leader in reducing smoking among both kids and adults. Adequate tobacco prevention funding is critical to improving the health of Hoosier kids, and it is a relatively small funding requirement compared to the overall package.

Governor Daniels’ rationale for including funding for tobacco prevention in the HIP plan is common sense - it is only right to use revenue from a tobacco tax increase to reduce the devastating toll of tobacco on Hoosiers.

Health advocates and legislators in both parties have been attempting to restore funding to the Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Agency (ITPC) ever since deep cuts were made to the program in 2003. That year, the budget for ITPC was cut by 66 percent, from $32.5 million a year to just $10.8 million. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends Indiana spend a minimum of $34.8 million per year on tobacco prevention. The HIP proposal would bring Indiana up to this minimum recommended level - this step should be supported by all legislators.

To call or e-mail your legislators, asking them to vote for SB503 funding with a $1 increase in the tobacco tax and full funding for ITPC as it comes to both houses for final approval following the conference committee. If you need that contact information, log on to www.in.gov/legislative and click on “Who is your legislator?” Or, if you know, call your Representative at 317-232-9600 or your Senator at 317-232-9400.

More than 80 United Methodist congregations are participants in the Hoosier Faith and Health Coalition supporting this important legislation.

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