Mayor Backs Boost in Tax on Cigarettes

Mayor Richard Riordan, normally an opponent of tax increases, on Thursday joined the broad-based coalition of celebrities and politicians favoring a 50-cent-per-pack levy on cigarettes to pay for early child development programs.

Riordan often calls for an overthrow of the current educational system, and he said the proposed California Children and Families Initiative, spearheaded by film director Rob Reiner, represents “an important, huge step in this revolution.”

Riordan and Reiner say that the cigarette tax would raise hundreds of millions of dollars annually for programs that assist young children in California. With federal matching funds, the benefit to Los Angeles County would be about $350 million, proponents said.

So far, the idea has attracted unusually broad political support. Riordan’s endorsement adds him to a list that includes state Sen. Tom Hayden (D-Los Angeles), whom Riordan defeated last year in the mayor’s race, and San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown, whose unabashedly liberal politics are a far cry from Riordan’s moderate Republican approach.

After the news conference announcing his support of the initiative, Riordan acknowledged that it was not his habit to advocate higher taxes--he often boasts of having governed Los Angeles for five years without a tax increase--but he said the cigarette proposal is different.

“I don’t even consider this a tax,” he said. “I consider it tobacco companies giving something back that they’ve taken away.”

Supporters of the initiative say that the money would help pay for prenatal care, day care, domestic abuse prevention and other programs intended to help children be born healthy and raised in safe, stimulating environments. At the same time, the higher cigarette taxes might discourage some young people from taking up smoking, which itself can contribute to childhood ailments.

Ironically, that means that as the initiative succeeds in one goal--driving down smoking--it will undermine its other--giving money to child development programs.

Reiner acknowledged that paradox, but said he is confident that the early influx of money will so boost child services that it will be able to taper off, as society begins to benefit from healthier, better-adjusted young people.

Citing an array of scientific studies, Reiner noted that the human brain experiences its most rapid and important growth while children are young. And yet, most money spent on children is for after they enter school.

By that point, he said, it is too late to help some children.

“We know very clearly that this is the case,” he said. “We have to make an investment early.”

Riordan agreed, adding that children who are neglected or hurt in their early years not only face difficult challenges but also pose problems for society--if they become criminals or are dependent on welfare programs for support.

Mike Roos, another member of the coalition pushing the initiative, said no organized opposition has yet emerged to the measure, which supporters hope will appear on the November ballot.