AUGUSTA — Opponents of a proposed $1 per pack increase in the cigarette tax told lawmakers Monday that they fear the tax targets those who can least afford it.

Representatives for convenience store owners and Maine Smoke Shops told members of the Legislature’s Appropriations and Taxation committees that smokers will turn to the illicit market or other states with lower taxes to find their cigarettes.

“For my customers, who are largely blue-collar, low-income people who are already up against it they are already having to make very tough choices when it comes to daily life,” said Christine Peters, chief operating officer for Maine Smoke Shops. “Many of these people live paycheck to paycheck.”

Yet supporters of the increase, which includes the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association and Maine Public Health Association, say the increase will encourage more people to quit smoking, save lives and reduce health care costs.

“There is significant data that shows increasing the tobacco tax is associated with a reduction in both youth and adult use of tobacco products,” said Becca Boulos, executive director of the public health association.

Maine currently adds a $2 per pack tax, with Connecticut at $4.35, Massachusetts at $3.51, New Hampshire at $1.78, Rhode Island at $4.25 and Vermont at $3.08, according to the lung association.

The per pack cost of cigarettes ranges from $8.75 to $15, according to prices posted recently at an Augusta-area convenience store.

If approved by lawmakers, the increase to $3 per pack would bring in about $80 million over the two-year budget cycle. 

The proposed tobacco tax increase is part of Gov. Janet Mills’ proposed state budget. The $11.6 billion budget seeks to balance what the administration calls targeted tax increases with cuts to some social service programs.

Public hearings on the budget began Monday at the State House, the start of a weeks’ long process in which the public will get a chance to share their opinions about the proposal.

Republicans, who have said they will not support the budget if it increases any taxes, grilled finance commissioner Kirsten Figueroa about why the administration chose a tobacco tax increase.

“Alcohol and gambling are just as serious addictions as smoking,” said Sen. Bruce Bickford (R-Auburn).

He noted that the state advertises gambling and state-run liquor prices on television and other media.

“How’s the administration going to justify raising taxes on a product that’s harder to stop than heroin, when it affects the children,” he said. “These people will buy their cigarettes before they will feed their kids.”

In introducing the budget, Figueroa said the administration spent months trying to find a way to fill a projected budget deficit.

“Maine, like many states both blue and red, is facing a tight budget environment,” she said. “We know these proposals are difficult and appreciate that you will consider them with an open mind.”

In her budget address last week, Mills said her goal is to preserve what she considers core Maine services, such as funding local education at 55%, providing free school meals, ongoing health care coverage, sharing revenues with cities and towns and continuing to make community college free.

In addition to the tobacco tax increase, the budget proposes a new tax on streaming services, cutting a pension tax deduction for high earners, increasing the sales tax on cannabis from 10-14% and putting in place new tax schemes on pharmacy and ambulance services to draw down federal funds.

Supporters of the tobacco tax increase say the benefits will be two-fold — helping the state with its budget deficit and reducing cancer deaths. 

Maine’s adult smoking rate is 15%, according to the lung association, with Vermont next at 13%, followed by Rhode Island at 11.8% and New Hampshire at 11.2%. Massachusetts comes in at 10.4% and Connecticut is lowest at 10%.

“Maine has the highest adult smoking rate in New England, and it has the second highest high school use of nicotine,” said Julia MacDonald, government relations director for the American Cancer Society Action Network. “Smoking harms nearly every organ in the body. It increases the risk for many types of cancer, for heart attack and chronic bronchitis and other diseases.”

Estimates show that this year alone, 2,400 Mainers will die from smoking-related illnesses, MacDonald said. A $1 per pack increase could prompt to 3,200 adults to quit smoking, she said.