WARWICK, R.I. – Convenience stores have expressed their opposition to Gov. Gina Raimondo’s proposed hike in the Rhode Island cigarette tax, the Cranston Herald reports. The governor’s budget includes a 50-cent increase in the state cigarette tax, moving it from $3.75 per pack to $4.25 per pack. Such a jump would put Rhode Island directly behind New York’s $4.35 per pack tax.

Al-Mall Daily Mart, City Line, Gulf Express, Harss Express, Sam’s Food Store and Shop-N-Go signed a letter to the governor commending her suggested minimum wage increase but lambasting the proposed cigarette tax increase. “Based on data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27% of Rhode Island adults who earn less than $15,000 are smokers, while 10% of adults who earn more than $50,000 are smokers. That means those who would benefit from the governor’s minimum wage increase would be hurt the most by a cigarette tax hike. That’s not fair,” the letter said.

With cigarette sales grabbing 32% of all c-store in-store revenue, “every time the cigarette tax goes up, the number of people coming into our stores goes down.” The six stores also told the governor that they lose customers to Massachusetts and Connecticut, which both have lower cigarette taxes.

When customers cross state lines to buy cigarettes, “we lose not only cigarette sales but also the sales of other convenience items like snacks, milk and bread. And when we lose sales, we are faced with the difficult choice of cutting jobs and/or hours of our hourly employees,” the letter said. The General Assembly will consider the governor’s budget next month.

In nearby New York, a new proposal from Assemblywoman Sandra Galef would raise the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 19 in New York State, the Press & Sun-Bulletin reports. Her bill has an exemption for military personnel, who could still buy cigarettes at 18. “I had steered toward 19 because I felt that young people would be out of high school and that’s where so often one starts to smoke, during those [high school] years,” Galef said Wednesday.

A state Senate committee has already approved a measure that would raise the tobacco buying age to 21. Galef’s bill would not supersede any localities, such as New York City, that already have a higher minimum age.