Online-only: Public health extras: APHA advocates on domestic violence, tobacco tax loophole
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* Charlotte Tucker

## Bill would reduce protection for victims, APHA says

A House bill aimed at protecting victims of domestic violence fails to provide important protections, APHA wrote to House leaders in a May 16 letter.

H.R. 4970, which would reauthorize the Violence Against Women Act, would roll back existing protections for victims of domestic violence, wrote APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP, FACEP (E), in the letter.

Benjamin urged House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to reject H.R. 4970 and instead work to pass legislation mirroring a Senate version of the bill, which passed in April. The House passed its version of the bill May 16.

There are many differences between the House and the Senate bills. The Senate bill expands coverage for domestic violence victims to American Indians, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and others. The House bill does not include that coverage and reduces options for illegal immigrants to seek help.

## Tobacco tax loophole targeted by APHA

A bill introduced May 10 to close loopholes in federal tobacco tax rates would reduce tobacco use, especially among youth, APHA said in a news release.

S. 3081, the Tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2012, would equalize tax rates on all tobacco products, including pipe tobacco, cigars and smokeless tobacco.

“The Children’s Health Insurance Reauthorization Act of 2009 increased the federal tax on cigarettes and set the tax rates for small cigars and roll-your-own cigarettes at the same level as cigarettes,” said the statement, which was initiated by the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and co-signed by the American Cancer Society, among others. “However, larger cigars, smokeless tobacco and pipe tobacco remain taxed at dramatically lower rates than cigarettes, making them more affordable to youth and spawning widespread tax avoidance.”

The bill is being considered by the Finance Committee.

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