Virtually the only tax increase that has support on Utah's Capitol Hill is a hike in the tobacco tax. As a public health measure -- higher cigarette prices discourage kids from taking up the habit -- we can support an increase. But we believe that the $1-per-pack jump that the House approved Tuesday is excessive.

We would throw in with the Salt Lake Chamber, which earlier this year recommended increasing the state tax from its current 69.5 cents per pack to $1.34, the national average. That's still nearly a doubling of the tax, a lot for smokers to absorb in one puff.

It also happens to be roughly the amount that members of the Senate Republican caucus reportedly said they would support when they were asked in a straw poll. Above $1.40 per pack, the number of senators who said they would vote for an increase tailed off.

The $1 increase that the House has approved would raise an estimated $43 million in annual revenue. Obviously, a 65-cent increase would only raise two-thirds that amount. But that's still not chump change, especially in a budget year when legislators are scraping for every penny to try to preserve vital public services.

A $43 million bump in revenue would go a long way toward bridging the $50 million gap between the income the governor's original budget projected and what the latest revenue estimates predict. A $29 million bump still would bridge more than half of the gap, and we believe there is room to take the balance from the Rainy Day Fund, which would be left with about $230 million in reserve.

There are excellent public health reasons to increase the cigarette tax, the main one being that raising the price of smokes causes some people to quit. That is especially true of teenagers. Most smokers take up the habit in adolescence. The World Health Organization reports that higher prices, often achieved through taxation, cause smoking rates to decline.

Preventing the disease, premature death and health care expenses that smoking cause is a worthwhile thing to do.

The down side of this tax increase is that it is so selective. Only about 9 percent of Utahns smoke, so passing an added tax burden to them is hardly equitable. Smokers also tend to be less well off financially, so piling on new tobacco tax also is regressive. Both of these are additional reasons to moderate the tax hike the House has passed.

If it causes smokers to kick the habit, though, the tax hike would be worth it.