Missourians might soon have a choice of tobacco tax petitions. A second group hopes to be on the streets soon with a proposal to hike tobacco taxes – but it has a different use for the $350-Million a year the tax might raise. The Alliance for Health and Justice wants to spend most of that money to restore cuts the legislature has made in the Medicaid program. It still has toget approval from the Secretary of State for its ballot language. The petition from the Committee for a Healthy Future would use the money for chronic disease management, and increased Medicaid payments to hospitals, doctors and ambulances. Both groups propose $61-Million for anti-tobacco programs.
