With the state budget negotiations in overtime this month, supporters and opponents of a proposed $1 tax hike on cigarettes in New York are making a renewed push on the issue. 

The proposal by Gov. Kathy Hochul would increase the per-pack tax on cigarettes in New York from $4.35 to $5.35.

Supporters have pointed to the benefits of increasing the tax by dissuading more people from taking up smoking; opponents argue it would only increase the sale of illegal cigarettes in the state. 

On Friday, the group Tobacco Kills announced it was taking out full page ads in newspapers across the state, including The Buffalo News, The Times Union in Albany, Newsday on Long Island and The Journal News in the Hudson Valley. 

"Lawmakers must do more than just say Black lives matter within the context of police abuse. They must legislate like it across the board and start protecting young Black teens from their most deadly enemy-Big Tobacco. By allowing menthol cigarettes to be so accessible, lawmakers are enabling and subsidizing Big Tobacco's exploitation of Black and Brown communities. It's time to get this ban done and start saving Black lives," said Rev. Kirsten Foy, of Arc of Justice, who has supported the tax increase. 

The New York Association of Convenience Stores, meanwhile, released an assessment of the tax proposal that concluded it would fall unfairly on working class and lower-income New Yorkers. 

"Why would we increase taxes on those who can least afford it? Will these folks decide that the government is right and decide that they no longer want to smoke?" the group wrote. "This seems questionable at best, given that adults who chose to smoke will have ample ways of avoiding the tax through the illicit market, bordering states, native reservations, and other means."

The tax hike proposal was paired with a plan by Hochul to also ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol. The measure was rejected by both the state Senate and Assembly in their budget plans.