Letters: Briggs assertion about GOP, pandemic is misguided and destructive

CLOSE Amanda Howard, a math teacher at Fishers High School, talks about what shes learned by adapting to the coronavirus pandemic Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021. The rollout of the COVID-19 vaccines at this point has been earliest in large metropolitan areas, and slower in rural areas. Nevertheless, our state House sent to the Senate a state budget that contains only a 50.5-cent cigarette tax increase, rather than the $2 increase recommended by some advocates. Increasing the cigarette tax will also lower health care costs in the long term. The health and economic benefits to the state from a $2 increase in the cigarette tax are obvious.