New York Governor Kathy Hochul attends a press conference at NYPD headquarters in New York City, U.S., January 6, 2026. REUTERS/Angelina Katsanis
(New York, New York) – A growing coalition of business leaders, convenience store owners, and former law enforcement officers is urging Governor Kathy Hochul to reverse what critics have dubbed a “bro tax”— a proposed 75 percent excise tax on nicotine pouches such as Zyn, Velo, Rogue, and On!
The NY Post reported that business groups are pressing the governor to walk back the proposal, which is included in her Fiscal Year 2027 executive budget. Under the plan, tobacco-free nicotine pouches would be taxed at the same 75 percent wholesale rate that has applied to traditional tobacco products in New York for over a decade, a move opponents say is misguided and will hurt working New Yorkers.
According to News10, a coalition of business owners and former law enforcement officers rallied against the tax, warning that it will fuel organized crime and harm lower-income communities. Former New York City Sheriff Edgar Domenech pointed to the already massive black market for cigarettes in the state, arguing that more than half of cigarettes in New York come from illegal smuggling operations. “Don’t tax the problem,” he said. “That’s not going to solve your issue.”
The NY Post said that critics of the proposal are particularly concerned about how the tax would affect people trying to quit smoking. Nicotine pouches currently cost between $5 and $8 per can in New York, roughly half the price of a pack of cigarettes. The proposed tax would nearly close that gap, eliminating what many see as a key financial incentive for smokers to switch to a less harmful alternative.
Alison Ritchie, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, said the tax would “widen the price gap between licensed stores and unlicensed sellers, who don’t check ID and don’t pay taxes.” She added that it raises prices and increases pressure on working families, at a time when affordability is a top concern in Albany.
Per News10, Hochul’s office is defending the measure, saying it would generate up to $57 million annually by 2030, with $50 million earmarked for the state’s Health Care Reform Act fund. A spokesperson said the governor is “standing up to big tobacco to help protect our kids and safeguard public health.”
However, evidence from scientists from New York’s own NYU, and Yale in neighboring Connecticut, indicates that clamping down on nicotine pouches could push New Yorkers including underage kids to traditional, deadly cigarettes—a decidedly pro-Big Tobacco outcome from an ostensibly anti-Big Tobacco move.
New York could also develop a smuggling problem, as it has with cigarettes that wind up in the state from its lower tax neighbors. According to the Tax Foundation, in 2023, over 50 percent of cigarettes used in New York were bought outside the state and imported in. Delaware and New Hampshire, with low tax rates, are within easy reach of the Empire State thanks to the I-95 corridor.
The Business Council of New York State, alongside numerous other business and advocacy groups, has formally written to the governor urging her to drop the proposal, arguing it would actually push adult smokers back toward cigarettes and disproportionately burden low-income New Yorkers and the minority community.
New York is required to legally finalize its budget before April 1. The 2025 National Youth Tobacco survey released last week indicated a drop in the rate of minors using nicotine pouches, suggesting a diminishing “youth protection” rationale for Hochul’s proposal, in any event.
