Republicans object to the so-called "sin taxes."
At a press conference this morning, Republican leaders of the state House and Senate said that the state budget should not raise taxes on alcohol and cigarettes.
"In tough economic times, it is not the time to raise taxes, particularly the taxes that hit the poorest people," said Senate Minority Leader Phil Berger.
He called the governor's budget "an attempt at legacy building."
For their budget priorities, Berger and House Minority Leader Paul Stam called for cutting spending, completely ending the annual transfer from the Highway Trust Fund, putting a roads bond before voters in November and not raising any state taxes.
On non-budget items, they called for lifting the cap on charter schools, putting constitutional amendments banning gay marriage and curtailing the use of eminent domain before voters, making the murder of an unborn child a crime and ending the de facto moratorium on the death penalty.
