Cigarette tax wins House approval

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) - The Wyoming House has reversed itself and passed a bill that would raise the state tax on cigarettes by 30 cents a pack.

House Bill 151 failed on 38-22 vote on Tuesday but was reconsidered and passed on a 31-28 vote Wednesday.

The proposal now goes to the state Senate for debate.

Wyoming now levies a tax of 60 cents per pack. The bill would raise the tax to 90 cents.

Raising the cigarette tax could add nearly $7.9 million a year to state coffers at a time when the state is seeing huge revenue losses from the energy industry downturn.