Remember the Cigarette Tax?

Every morning, legislators receive the electronic update from Governing Magazine, a survey of different public policy methods and leadership profiles around the country. I've found Governing Magazine to be refreshing, because for the most part, it just gives facts, news and information, leaving out philosophical or partisan spin. So a reader gets the good, the bad, the ugly and sometimes the mundane from different legislative and executive bodies from around the nation.

One headline I noticed from yesterday's edition was Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal's veto of an extension of an additional 4-cent cigarette tax. If you're from Mississippi, you probably remember the cigarette tax saga that lasted from 2006-2009, where there was a host of arguments for and against raising Mississippi's cigarette tax (then the nation's third-lowest). Reading this report brought back bad memories of late-night special sessions, rally after rally at the Capitol and a sort of anti-climactic finish when the Legislature finally did raise the tax.

Here's the article from nola.com.