BOSTON -- A key state senator is in favor of a measure that would boost the cigarette tax in Massachusetts by 50 cents, with the additional revenue used to expand health care. Sen. Mark C.W. Montigny, D-New Bedford, chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said a tobacco tax increase is the best way to extend health coverage to Bay Staters who lack insurance.

"The only way to expand in this magnitude is through this kind of revenue stream," said Sen. Montigny, who is sponsoring a bill to do that this legislative session. "This is the only answer. If someone has a better answer, I'm waiting for it."

Proponents estimate that the tax increase will bring the state about $150 million in additional revenue each year. Much of that money could be spent on programs that qualify the state for federal matching funds, said Marcia Hams, deputy director for programs at Health Care for All, an advocacy group.

Montigny said the increase could result in an extra 75,000 Massachusetts residents receiving health care.

The increase would mean that smokers would pay $1.29 per pack in state taxes, in addition to federal taxes that are scheduled to rise from 34 cents to 39 cents next year. It would give Massachusetts the highest per-pack tax in the nation.

New York leads the nation in tobacco taxes, charging $1.11 per pack under a law passed last year. Massachusetts ranks seventh in the nation.

Gov. A. Paul Cellucci says he opposes additional tobacco taxes because they hurt working people.

A coalition of anti-smoking advocates is working to persuade politicians in all six New England states to approve the 50-cent tax in a regional effort to reduce smoking and expand health care. Activists also backed the Massachusetts Legislature's last smoking tax -- a 25-cent hike that lawmakers approved in 1996 over former Gov. William Weld's veto. As the head of the Senate committee that writes the state budget, Sen. Montigny's support is considered critical to the future of the tax on Beacon Hill. Although some opposition is expected, a new cigarette tax could have a good chance of passing during this legislative session.

"A cigarette tax is more likely to pass than other taxes, but it's still hard to tell," said Sen. Frederick Berry, a Peabody Democrat and vice chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee.

Sen. Berry, a close ally of Sen. Montigny's, praised the cigarette tax as a creative way to help meet the state's increasing health care demands and deter teens from starting the habit. "I know it's costly for the addicted smoker, and I have some sympathy for those people, but I do think it's a great way to prevent younger people from smoking," Sen. Berry said. Rep. George Rogers, the only New Bedford area member of the House Ways and Means Committee, said it could still be a tough sell in the House, which he says generally doesn't embrace tax increases.

"The idea of raising taxes itself is anathema to an awful lot of people," said Rep. Rogers, D-New Bedford.

Rep. Rogers said he needs to see more information about the impact of the tax before he decides whether to support it. He said he's concerned because he believes the tax would have a disproportionate affect on inner-city residents with low incomes.

Erica Smith, 20, is a cigarette smoker. She doesn't like the idea of the tax.

"It's completely unfair, if you ask me," said the New Bedford resident. "This is America, where the big thing is freedom of choice. What they never tell you is that though those choices may be completely legal, you can still be punished for making them. Plus, 50 cents extra for something that already costs too much is ridiculous, and it's even more ridiculous that it's going to pay for someone else's health care costs."

Jessica Callahan, 29, who is also a smoker, said that although it is unfair that the price on cigarettes should go up, it's also only to be expected.

"Prices have been on the rise for many years already, and there's no reason why they should stop rising when the people responsible for that know very well that smokers like myself are still going to pay up," she said. "It is unfair, especially because of the reason that they're thinking of hiking up prices, but it's expected."

But Carl Pires, also of New Bedford, said he believes the price increase is a good idea.

"Not only will this give people who don't have heath care -- a necessity -- the coverage they need, but I think it will also be another reason for people to quit smoking," he said. "You'd be saving so much money a week or a month if you did give up smoking, and you'd be doing something positive for your health, so I don't see how that can be a bad thing at all."