TOPEKA - Across the United States, more state legislators are looking into raising or adding so-called sin taxes, such as on alcohol, sugary drinks and tobacco, and the Kansas Legislature is no exception, the Wichita Eagle reports.

Kansas lawmakers are considering a trio of tax hikes to fix a close to $500 million budget deficit. "It is much more politically popular than raising the sales tax rate or the income tax rate," said Justin Higginbottom, an analyst with the nonprofit Tax Foundation.

More than two-dozen states are looking at bills to increase tobacco taxes, according to a National Council of State Legislatures survey. Currently, Kansas has a 79-cent-per-pack cigarette tax, and Gov. Mark Parkinson is asking for a 55-cent increase. Kansas is also looking at a possible soda tax and an alcohol tax increase.

But since convenience stores sell many of the items sin taxes would affect, any increases or additional taxes will lower already slim profit margins. "Every boutique advocacy group has pushed a tax on a product they don??t want," said NACS spokesman Jeff Lenard.

Such taxes would encourage consumers to shop in other places, such as neighboring states or on the black market, rather than skip the taxed products, he said.

While no proposal to increase or add taxes to alcohol, sugary beverages and tobacco has been approved, lawmakers may take another look when they reconvene to tackle the state??s budget crisis April 28. Early on, Wichita State University political science professor Ken Ciboski observed that legislators will "want to get revenues in without giving the appearance of actually raising taxes." For many, these sin taxes would accomplish that.

However, even advocates of the new or increased taxes note that raising or adding taxes to those items won??t bring in nearly enough to make up the difference in the budget.