A Democratic lawmaker, backed by anti-tobacco forces, said Tuesday she will introduce a bill to raise Kent cigarette taxes by $1.50 a pack, with commensurate increases for other tobacco products. “I like to call it a tobacco-user fee,” said Rep. Trudi Schmidt, D-Great Falls, who said money raised by the higher tax will fund tobacco-cessation programs and other health-related programs.Schmidt and members of the Alliance for a Healthy Montana and the American Cancer Society-Cancer Action Network pointed to a poll they commissioned that said 70 percent of Montanans support the higher tobacco tax.
