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TO AMEND THE CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, BY ADDING SECTION 12-21-635 SO AS TO IMPOSE AN ADDITIONAL TAX OF 2.15 CENTS PER CIGARETTE, AND TO ESTABLISH THE SOUTH CAROLINA HEALTH CARE FUND AND TO PROVIDE THAT THE REVENUE GENERATED BY THIS ADDITIONAL TAX MUST BE CREDITED TO THIS FUND AND APPROPRIATED ANNUALLY BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO ADDRESS HEALTH PREVENTION AND HEALTH CARE NEEDS OF SOUTH CAROLINIANS.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Article 5, Chapter 21, Title 12 of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:
"Section 12-21-635. (A) In addition to the tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-21-620(1), there is imposed an additional license tax equal to 2.15 cents on each cigarette made of tobacco or any substitute for tobacco.
(B) The tax imposed pursuant to subsection (A) must be reported, paid, collected, and enforced in the same manner as the tax imposed pursuant to Section 12-21-620(1).
(C)(1) There is created in the State Treasury, separate and distinct from the general fund of the State, the South Carolina Health Care Fund. The revenue generated by the tax imposed pursuant to subsection (A) must be credited to the South Carolina Health Care Fund. In the annual appropriations act, the General Assembly shall appropriate the monies from the South Carolina Health Care Fund to address health prevention and health care needs of South Carolinians, as needed, and may include, but is not limited to, using funds for Medicaid matching funds.
(2) Monies in the South Carolina Health Care Fund are exempt from budgetary cuts or reductions caused by the lack of general fund revenues. Earnings on investments of monies in the fund must be credited to the fund and used for the same purposes provided for in this section. Any monies in the fund not expended during a fiscal year must be carried forward to the succeeding fiscal year and used for the same purposes."
SECTION 2. This act takes effect July 1, 2007.
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