DENVER - Colorado House lawmakers last week voted to impose a permanent state sales tax on cigarettes, the Denver Post reports.

Authored by state Rep. Daniel Kagan, the bill would permanently eliminate the sales tax exemption on cigarettes and take effect in the 2013-14 fiscal year, which begins this July.

Colorado??s state sales tax is 2.9%, which results in an average 12 or 13 cents on a pack of cigarettes. While Colorado already imposes a state sales tax on cigarettes, lawmakers suspended the tax for two-year periods in 2009 and 2011.

Republican House members opposed the move, calling it a "regressive" tax on "working families." State House Minority Leader Mark Waller said there was no need to vote for the measure because the state??s finances are strengthening.

"We didn't have the money to balance the budget (in 2009 and 2011)," Waller said. "Today we do."

The House??s approval was delivered on a voice vote, and it moves now to a recorded vote before it can go to the state Senate, where it is expected to pass.