Carolyn Krause

SPRINGFIELD - Cigarettes would cost Illinois smokers 75 cents more a pack if two suburban lawmakers are successful in winning approval for a tax hike they said would help buoy Illinois' sinking budget.

However, the move might run into opposition from GOP leaders, who are reluctant to support a tax increase in an election year.

State Rep. Carolyn Krause, a Mount Prospect Republican, and state Rep. Rosemary Kurtz, a Crystal Lake Republican, were among six lawmakers who attended a Capitol news conference Thursday to urge legislative leaders to approve the tax increase.

Krause said lawmakers need to act as layoffs mount and complaints come in from those affected by cuts to state programs and services.

Nearly 4,000 state employee layoffs are planned and the budget picture continues to darken. Gov. George Ryan said Thursday the state is now nearly $1.3 billion short of what it expected to get from state taxes and other sources of income. So far no one has come up with a plan to fully balance the proposed state budget.

Tax increase supporters say their proposal should be part of any budget solution, arguing it is more palatable to politicians and voters than any other tax increase.

In Illinois, total tax currently runs about $1.14 on a pack. Raising the state tax 75 cents is projected to bring in nearly $537 million annually.

But legislative leaders who control what legislation advances and what doesn't have yet to offer their support for raising taxes. The fact that it is an election year makes politicians even more reluctant to turn to higher taxes to solve budget woes.

"At this time they've all said that they weren't for a tax increase," the governor said after legislative leaders met in his office Thursday to discuss the budget.

House Republican Leader Lee A. Daniels of Elmhurst said he does not currently support raising cigarette taxes but had no doubt such a plan could get some Republican votes.

However, Senate President James "Pate" Philip, a Wood Dale Republican, has expressed his opposition to raising any taxes.

Oddly, the call for a cigarette tax hike from Republicans like Krause and Kurtz comes as the Democratic nominee for governor, Rod Blagojevich, is pushing a similar plan.

Blagojevich envisions paying for increased senior citizen health care by increasing the tax on cigarettes by 43 cents a pack. His opponent, Republican Jim Ryan, has said he will not support any tax or fee increases of any kind.

Despite perceived political risks, several governors have come out in support of such tax increases to solve similar budget woes.

Anti-smoking groups say at least 16 states have considered or have enacted plans to increase taxes on cigarettes to battle their own budget problems.