Chairman Marquart, Vice Chair Lislegard, Republican Lead Davids and members of the House Taxes Committee, my name is Alan Smith, and I am a senior fellow and Midwest director at the R Street Institute, which is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, public policy research organization. Our mission is to engage in policy research and outreach to promote free markets and limited, effective government in many areas.
One particular increase in taxes proposed by HF 991 really caught our attention because of our portfolio on tobacco harm reduction. We have been encouraged that the studies overwhelmingly indicate that vaping could be the most effective solution for many persons trying to quit smoking. From our reading of this legislation, the gross receipts tax of 35 percent would be added to the 95 percent OTP tax currently applied to vapor products. To tax a legal product at 130 percent would not clear any definition of acceptable tax policy and there is a strong argument that the underlying health a