The House Revenue Committee took testimony on House Bill 224 and then declined to even consider the bill. It died for lack of a second. HB 224, sponsored by Rep. Lori Millin, D-Cheyenne, would have raised the tax on a pack of Cigarettes from the current 60 cents to $1.10. The increase would have generated an estimated $21 million a year in additional revenue for local governments, according to a state-generated estimate. Millin and other supporters of the bill said it would have also reduced youth smoking by making Cigarettes less affordable. The American Cancer Society estimates that a 10 percent increase in the price of Cigarettes cuts the youth smoking rate by 6 percent. "I think if we raise the tax, children will buy less Cigarettes," Millin said after the hearing. "I brought (the bill) as a health benefit." Marian J. Schulz, lobbyist for tobacco giant Philip Morris USA, said the cigarette excise tax is not a dependable source of revenue for local governments, and is "aggressive and unfair to adults who smoke." Schulz said the tax increase would hit the poorest Wyoming residents the hardest, and retailers would suffer because of the resulting decrease in cigarette sales. She noted that convenience stores nationwide depend on tobacco products for More than a third of their revenue. "Philip Morris USA believes Wyoming smokers already pay a fair amount of tax on the Cigarettes they purchase," Schulz said. Millin said after the vote that she was not shocked that the committee killed the bill, though she was somewhat surprised the panel declined to even take a vote. "I think the Revenue Committee tends to listen to the big U.S. tobacco companies. I think they tend to listen to those groups," she said. "I knew it was an uphill battle." The state last raised the tax on Cigarettes in 2003, from 12 cents to 60 cents. Thirty-five states levy a higher cigarette tax, according to the Council of State Governments. Congress is currently considering a 61-cent increase in the federal cigarette tax, Schulz noted.