JACKSON, Miss. – On Monday, the Mississippi House Ways and Means Committee voted for a $1-per-pack increase in the state’s cigarette excise tax, the Commercial Dispatch reports. The panel also approved raising traffic fines, drivers license fees, and other fees and fines, which, along with the cigarette tax hike, would generate more revenue for the state’s Medicaid program and hospital trauma-care system.

The Mississippi House, which is controlled by the Democrats, will probably vote on these measures by the end of February, as legislators look at a variety of means to fund the budget.

The Mississippi Senate is considering a similar measure to fund the state’s hospital trauma-care system. However, the Republican-led Senate has said it won’t increase the cigarette tax, and Gov. Haley Barbour has indicated he doesn’t want to change taxes until after a study is completed in August.

During his first term, Barbour vetoed cigarette tax bills to fulfill his pledge not to raise taxes.

The state cigarette tax, currently at 18 cents per pack, hasn’t been raised since 1985. House Bill 1013 would advance the tax to $1.18 per pack.