There is reason for recipients of federal dollars to be searching urgently for alternative sources of revenue. Multiple reasons, in fact, have been unveiled in news headlines for the past several weeks.
The medical research realm has no immunity from the campaign by President Donald Trump to slash federal government costs. Under the new administration, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), responsible for underwriting much of the research across the U.S., on Friday announced cuts, capping its grants at 15% of costs.
Hawaii is one of 22 Democratic-led states pushing back: On Monday the Department of the Attorney General here joined other states in a lawsuit challenging the NIH cuts. That was met on the same day with a response: A federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to block the cuts in those states.
Even setting aside that battle over federal cost-sharing, there is a rational push for a 2-cent increase in the state’s cigarette tax, boosting the tax on each cigarette to 18 cents.
That effort, which merits full backing of lawmakers, takes the form of House Bill 441, heard on Friday, and the similar Senate Bill 1528, not yet slated for a hearing. This tax funds cancer research specifically, and without that infusion of revenue, the prognosis for the state research fund is poor.
The Legislature also is considering bills proposed by Gov. Josh Green, HB 1085 and SB 1404, that would go further, boosting the tax to 21 cents. This measure also is intended to expand the funding source beyond the cigarette tax, such as the revenues from e-cigarettes.
Cigarette tax revenues are on a relentlessly downward track, so the issue may need revisiting at some point. However, the most prudent move would be to advance the proposed smaller increase, as an appropriate initial step.
The state AG’s Office was among those submitting testimony, arguing that tax revenues for cancer research have plummeted from over $116 million a decade ago to just over $70 million last fiscal year. This is a dire outcome for the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, also making an impassioned plea for the proposed increase.
The state Department of Health also endorsed the bill, pointing out in testimony to the House Committee on Higher Education that cigarette smoking “takes a financial toll on the state,” adding $661 million in annual health care costs in Hawaii.
The House committee made the unusual but welcome gesture of conducting its hearing on a raft of UH bills on the Manoa campus. Naoto Ueno, director of the Cancer Center, identified the ultimate goal as “a cancer-free society in Hawaii.” He got the attention of the room at Bachman Hall with pointed statistics.
“Forty percent of us in this room will have cancer, unfortunately,” Ueno told the committee members. “The cancer center, working with the health care system, has reduced our cancer mortality about 25% over several decades.
“We do need to achieve a higher number, which is about 50% by 2040,” he added. “But to do this, we really need to invest more, and we are behind, comparing to other areas.”
The UH center is the only one in the Pacific region designated as a cancer research center by the federal National Cancer Institute. In October, that designation, which it has held since 1996, was renewed for five years after the institution received its best score in a decade, an NCI classification as an “outstanding” cancer center.
This is not a credential to be treated lightly, and tax revenues for research must be bolstered. Hawaii should work in concert with cancer researchers in their pursuit of the best outcome for patients.
