Californians back hiking cigarette tax by $2: poll

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California voters by nearly a 2-to-1 majority would support increasing their state's cigarette tax by $2 per pack to help raise cash for a state effort to provide health-care insurance to the uninsured, according to the latest Field Poll released on Friday.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, a Republican, and Assembly Leader Fabian Nunez are rallying support in the state's Democrat-led legislature for a bill that aims to extend medical coverage to millions of uninsured Californians.

The bill, approved by the Assembly on Monday and estimated to cost the state $14 billion, would also raise money for the health-care program by taxes on hospitals and on employers who do not provide medical coverage, and by cigarette taxes.

The bill now goes to the state Senate. If approved there, the bill would be put to voters as a ballot measure, likely next November.

The Field Poll found 64 percent of California voters inclined to support the universal health insurance plan outlined in the bill, compared with 23 percent opposed.

The Field Poll also found 63 percent of voters in favor of the state raising its cigarette tax to support the medical insurance plan, compared with 33 percent against doing so.

Forty-seven percent of voters would support having the state issue bonds against state lottery revenues to fund the health-care plan, compared with 41 percent opposed.

"Generating the strongest opposition is the proposal to increase the state sales tax by one cent," the Field Poll's report said. "Half of the state's registered voters oppose this idea, 40 percent strongly. This compares to 46 percent who favor this idea."

The Field Poll randomly surveyed 1,283 registered voters statewide, including 543 Democrats, 439 Republicans and 301 voters with other parties or who do not have a party affiliation. Interviews were conducted by telephone in English and in Spanish from December 10 through December 17. The poll's maximum sampling error is plus or minus 2.9 percentage points.

(Reporting by Jim Christie; Editing by Gary Hill)