More Victims of Devastating New Tax Speak Out

Amy Crivella was addicted to cigarettes. She tried everything—gum, patches, going cold turkey—but nothing worked. Then, she tried e-cigarettes, or vaping, and she didn’t need a cigarette for the first time in 17 years.

The mom of two closed her bakery and took out a loan to open East Coast Vapes in Cranberry Township near Pittsburgh. Amy estimates her business has helped about 700 people reduce smoking or quit cigarettes altogether since she opened her doors almost a year ago.

“I didn’t choose to do this to make a buck,” she says. “If I can pay my bills, I’m happy. We’re helping the grandmas and the grandpas quit smoking. We’re not looking for a handout.”

But Amy’s business and her family’s livelihood are in danger. Tucked away in this year’s budget is a retroactive 40 percent wholesale tax on e-cigarettes that goes into effect on October 1. This means Amy will have to send Harrisburg a check for 40 percent of the wholesale value of her entire inventory—including the inventory she purchased well before this tax was even considered.

Not only will the tax force Amy to lay off all three of her employees, but it may financially ruin her.

I don’t know if I’m going to make it. I don’t even have the option to close. I signed a five-year lease, and I’m personally responsible for those payments. I’m going to lose everything. My parents helped me take out that loan. The bank will go after their house if I don’t make my payments. I don’t know what I’m going to do.

Unfortunately, Amy has learned how dangerous big government can be:

I didn’t know too much before, and the more I learn the more scared I get. I didn’t even know what a lobbyist was until about four months ago. I should never fear my government, and I fear them right now. We hired them to stand up for the little people, and I feel like a punching bag. They don’t care that we pay $16 million in other taxes every year.

This fall, lawmakers have a choice: They can shut down businesses across the state for a mere (in relation to the rest of the budget) $13 million in projected revenue from the tax, or they can spare people like Amy from losing their livelihoods.

For starters, lawmakers should support a move spearheaded by Rep. Jeff Wheeland (R- Williamsport) to replace the 40 percent tax with a 5-cents-per-milliliter tax, similar to what exists in North Carolina and Louisiana.

If additional savings are needed, lawmakers should cut hundreds of millions in corporate welfare tax credits and optimize state health care spending. Pennsylvania could save $153 million a year if state workers contributed to their health care at the same rate as private sector workers. Common sense solutions to savings and revenue exist that don't unfairly punish businesses like Amy's.

Like other vape entrepreneurs, Amy plans to empty her inventory to avoid the 40 percent floor tax. In the meantime, she hopes lawmakers will act quickly to repeal or replace the tax instead of sending families like hers to financial ruin.