BISMARCK, N.D. – Since 1993, North Dakota has had the same 44 cents per pack cigarette tax. This year, voters may change that if they approve a ballot measure bumping the tax up to $2.20 per pack, the Daily Progress reports. The measure would also increase taxes on liquid nicotine from 28% to 56% of the wholesale purchase price.

The Raise It for Health North Dakota has been campaigning for the increase, but others, including tobacco companies R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. and Altria Group and the Greater North Dakota Chamber of Commerce, have launched counter-campaigns to keep the status quo. The cigarette makers have given more than $860,000 to fight the measure that the North Dakota Retail Association calls “an onerous tax on a legal product.”

Tax hike supporters estimate that the higher tax would bring in around $50 million each year, money that could be used to fund various health programs, including one for military veterans. Currently, North Dakota has the fifth lowest cigarette tax in the country, after Missouri (17 cents), Virginia (30 cents), Louisiana (36 cents) and Georgia (37 cents). New York retains the highest taxes per pack at $4.35, followed by Massachusetts ($3.51), Rhode Island ($3.50) and Connecticut ($3.40).