Seven-time Tour de France cycling champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong announced Monday at a press conference at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center that he is backing a proposed $1 per pack tax on tobacco in California to help fund research on cancer and tobacco-related illnesses. Armstrong and CA State Sen. Don Perata, 9th District, a fellow cancer survivor, were named co-chairs of the California Cancer Research Act (CCRA).

Cycling champion Lance Armstrong put his muscle behind a proposal to tax tobacco products to pay for cancer research. He was joined by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Monday. (photo by Jose Martinez)

Armstrong, wearing his signature yellow Livestrong bracelet with a dark suit and yellow tie, said he had good reasons for co-chairing the CCRA, which would raise the price of a pack of cigarettes from $5 to $6 in California.

“As a cancer survivor and advocate, I’m excited to see California mobilizing to make history in the fight against cancer,” Armstrong said. “We all know that as California goes, so goes the rest of the nation and the people of this state stand on the brink of setting a new record for cancer research funding, creating thousands of new jobs, save lives, billions of dollars in healthcare costs, and preventing hundreds of thousands of kids from ever smoking.”

Armstrong and Perata were joined by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, whose mother died of cancer. The mayor let it be known he is a strong supporter of the initiative.

“It’s a pleasure to support an excellent cause,” Villaraigosa said. “This is life-saving legislation.”

The mayor pointed out that in 1971, the year Armstrong was born, he graduated from high school and President Richard Nixon declared war on cancer.

The initiative will certainly face strong opposition from the tobacco industry, which has successfully defeated similar measures 14 times in California. Philip Morris USA, the nation’s leading cigarette manufacturer, is funding Californians Against Out-of-Control Taxes and Spending, a political action committee that has already raised $128,000 in-kind contributions.

“We all believe cancer research is important, but this measure is flawed and poorly written,” said Teresa Casazza, president of the California Taxpayers’ Association. “At a time when California is faced with a crippling budget deficit of more than $25 billion we can’t afford to start a new program spending nearly $1 billion a year—especially one with no accountability to the taxpayers.”

Perata believes this time will be different because the CCRA will put money directly in the hands of researchers and will keep administrative costs to two percent.

Originally intended to be on the February 2012 ballot, if Gov. Jerry Brown succeeds in getting a special election, the cigarette tax could be up for vote this June. The tobacco tax could raise more than $500 million a year for research purposes and cannot be used towards the state’s budget.

“The only way to do this is with a dedicated tax,” Perata said. “We made this about professionals and survivors and how the money should be spent without political influence. The idea of taxing a nickel a smoke is not farfetched. This is going to be a big fight.”

The CCRA is backed by the American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and the American Heart Association, among other advocacy groups.