MINNEAPOLIS, MN -- On Jan. 23, three smokers in the state of Minnesota filed a class action lawsuit alleging that the state’s 75-cent-per-pack “health impact fee”--disguised as a cigarette excise tax increase--is illegal and that they want a refund, reports the Associated Press. 

Whether the state can legally charge the extra 75 cents hit a high note for smokers on Dec. 20 when Ramsey County District Judge Michael Fetsch struck down the 75-cent-per-pack tax hike. Fetsch ruled that the fee is in violation of the state’s 1998 tobacco settlement. In his ruling, he ordered the state to “pay refunds or give credits” to the tobacco companies for fees paid since the law took effect in August 2005.

The state has appealed the ruling and the Minnesota Supreme Court has agreed to hear the appeal in April. Until then, the state is still collecting “about $20 million a month but is required to bank the money while the appeal is pending,” notes the AP.

The lawsuit filed on Monday asks the court to establish “a trust and a method of distributing the money to smokers” rather than funneling the money back to the tobacco companies,” writes the Pioneer Press. According to the plaintiffs’ attorney Marshall Tanick, the tobacco companies have “already collected that money from consumers and now they shouldn't get a second windfall from the state.”

Randy Gullickson, an attorney representing the cigarette wholesalers, told the newspaper that it is too early to discuss who will receive the money.

Gullickson said, “Whether smoking is a good thing or a bad thing is not an issue in this case, it's basically a matter of fundamental fairness.”