
State voters last night rejected two different options for tobacco tax increases, defeating both an RJ Reynolds-backed plan to raise the prices of a pack by as much as $1.27, as well as a far smaller tax increase favored by its off-brand competitors.
Both Amendment 3 (the so-called "Raise Your Hand for Kids" proposition), and Proposition A, with its gentler increase, went down to clear defeat, winning 40 percent of the vote and 44 percent, respectively. That's despite, in Amendment 3's case, more than $13 million in backing from RJ Reynolds.…