Report: Dosal Tobacco Tax Bill is 'Dead on Arrival' in Florida House

Setting up a showdown with the Senate -- or killing it for good -- House Majority Leader Carlos Lopez Cantera and Rep. Erik Fresen say a bill to slap a tax on Dosal Tobacco Co. is "dead on arrival."

The website Shark-Tank.net reported Thursday that Rep. John Tobias HB 1207 is going nowhere.

According to Shark Tank, Tobia, R-Melbourne, "apparently has decided to break from the no new taxes, lower taxes message that Governor Rick Scott and the Republican Legislature have championed this legislative session."

Meantime, Sen. Thad Altman's proposed Dosal bill remains in play. President Mike Haridopolos has called the added 40-cent-per-pack fee a matter of fairness, noting that big cigarette makers have been paying the surcharge since the state signed its tobacco settlement with them in 1997.