CONCORD, N.H. – New Hampshire Gov. John Lynch is looking to convenience stores to balance his proposed budget, the Concord Monitor reports. The governor wants to increase cigarette taxes and sell more lottery tickets to raise approximately $100 million for the state’s coffers.

Critics say the plan would balance the budget at the expense of working-class people, who purchase cigarettes and lottery tickets in disproportionate numbers, the newspaper reports. Supporters counter that the proposal would bring in needed income to the state.

Currently, New Hampshire taxes cigarettes at 80 cents per pack, well below each of the other New England states. Gov. Lynch’s plan would raise the cigarette tax 28 cents to reach $1.08 per pack. This hike would bring in an additional $87 million to pay for the two-year budget.

"This proposal keeps the rate of our tobacco tax well below those of neighboring states," Lynch told the legislature. "It also allows us to accomplish an important public health goal - deterring young people from smoking."

While the governor did not talk specifics about the lottery beyond saying the state would increase promotional spending, the budget he submitted includes nearly $177 million in lottery receipts—up from the estimated $165 million available in the biennium that ends June 30. The additional lottery funds would be from more sales across the board and from the sale of a $30 scratch ticket, which needs authorization by the legislature.

Rep. Gene Chandler told the newspaper that he thought the lottery-cigarette combination was unfair. "We're preying on the wrong people. The people who are purchasing those (lottery) tickets are in most cases the people who can least afford to do so. … [The cigarette tax is] a tax on the poor people. They're not going to stop smoking; they're just going to have to pay more."

Meanwhile, a bill before the New Hampshire House seeks to ban trans fats. Legislation introduced by Reps. Paul McEachern and Jim Splaine, would outlaw trans fats from restaurants, school cafeterias and retail food stores. Currently, at least 13 states, including California, are considering trans fats bans of some kind.

But Michelline Dufort, president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, told the New Hampshire Business Review that “we do feel that the market drives the issue. A lot of restaurants have taken it off the menu. The government shouldn’t interfere.”

The bill would prohibit trans fat in “any food prepared for sale or service on the premises or elsewhere, by any food service establishment or retail food store licensed by the Department of Health and Human Services.”