Advertisement Vermont House OKs 92 percent tax on e-cigarettes Some shop owners say it could put them out of business Share Shares Copy Link Copy

Passions ran high on the House floor Wednesday afternoon over a bill to impose a 92 percent state tax on electronic cigarettes and vapor products.The fast-growing, mostly unregulated market has attracted many young Vermonters.Watch this storySupporters said the steep levy would put e-cigarettes at parity with state tobacco taxes.Rep. George Till, a Jericho Democrat and physician, argued the proposal would discourage young people from using a harmful product. He said every dollar raised would lower the state tax on employers who don't provide health care benefits to their workers.Some lawmakers expressed concern over the new youth risk survey showing one-third of Vermont high school students reported using e-cigarettes; 15 percent said they're regular users. Liquid vapor products are now more popular than tobacco smokes among young Vermonters, according to the survey."The e-cigarette tax is a really good idea for a lot of many reasons," said Jill Sudhoff-Guerin with the American Cancer Society. "The primary reason is that kids are very price-sensitive."Though some adult smokers said vaping helped them quit cigarettes or helps them stay away from tobacco, tax advocates say the science is new and already troubling.But Crystal Kinney, a former tobacco user who now works at NEK Vapor Shop in Lyndonville, said the tax could force her out of business."By doing this tax you take away choice for low income people, people on a set budget, to make a choice to go to vaping and not cigarettes," Kinney said. "You're taking away jobs and we already have unemployment issues and now a tax that's so high it could possibly close stores."Kinney predicted the 92 percent wholesale tax would double the retail price of vaping liquid, from $20 to $40 per bottle, driving customers to online sources or to neighboring states.The bill won preliminary approval in the Vermont House late Wednesday by a vote of 83-54. It's likely to move on to the Senate for consideration by the weekend.A separate proposal to raise the minimum age to purchase either tobacco or electronic cigarettes was approved by the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday in an 8-3 vote.That bill is expected to be debated by the full House on Friday.