State Bill of the Month – September 2025: Michigan H.B. 5086

Introduced by Michigan State Rep. Steve Carra (R-36), State Rep. Jaime Greene (R-65), and State Rep. Matthew Maddock (R-51), H.B. 5086 would repeal the Michigan Tobacco Products Tax Act of 1993. The Michigan Tobacco Products Tax Act (Public Act 327 of 1993) is the state law that establishes taxes, licensing, and regulations for the sale, possession, and distribution of tobacco products in Michigan. The purpose of this act was to regulate the manufacturing, importation, wholesale, distribution, and retail sale of tobacco products, while generating revenue through excise taxes on these products.

Taxes on tobacco cause many unintended negative effects. Supporters of repealing tobacco taxes argue that they are regressive, burden lower- and middle-income groups unfairly, promote illegal trade, are not a reliable source of revenue, and weaken the promotion of less harmful alternatives to cigarettes. All of these issues are addressed in the Taxpayers Protection Alliance’s (TPA) Tobacco & Vaping 101: 50 State Analysis publication. 

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) – and noted in TPA’s report – these arguments hold true. In 2022, 30.1 percent of adults in Michigan earning $25,000 or less smoked compared to only 9.7 percent of adults earning $50,000 or more. Furthermore, cigarette excise taxes in Michigan disproportionately impact low-income and low-educated persons, while not significantly reducing smoking rates among that class. In 2022, for every $1 the state received in tobacco monies, it spent less than $0.01 on tobacco control efforts, indicating that the state of Michigan woefully underfunds programs to prevent youth use of tobacco and vapor products that help people quit smoking, while concurrently receiving millions of dollars from the pockets of adult tobacco users.

Michigan last increased its state cigarette excise tax in 2004, from $0.75 to $ 2.00 per pack. Michigan collected more than $1 billion in tobacco monies for 2022 but only allocated $1.8 million in state funding towards tobacco control programs. Eliminating the tobacco tax act will alleviate the disproportionate effect that cigarette taxes have on low-income and low-educated persons. Considering that these taxes also fail to reduce smoking rates, this would be a most welcome development.

H.B. 5086 is an essential step towards reducing the tax burden on consumers in Michigan who use tobacco products. Tobacco taxes in the Great Lakes State, like every state, do nothing to reduce the smoking rates or encourage the use of less harmful alternatives to combustible cigarettes.

It is for these reasons, among others, that TPA is pleased to make H.B. 5086, as introduced by Michigan State Rep. Steve Carra, State Rep. Jaime Greene, and State Rep. Matthew Maddock, its Bill of the Month for September 2025.