Last week, it was the dramatic tax proposal on the west coast in the State of Washington . This week, we move east to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts , where Governor Deval Patrick has proposed raising the excise tax on cigars from 30% to 110%. It’s that time of year.

Massachusetts has a proposed $28 billion budget, and with this proposal, even using the Governor’s figures, would only generate $15 million, while threatening small businesses, and working to actually reduce revenue collections, by driving consumers to other venues to buy their cigars.