This AP story reporting a soon to be announced proposal from Virginia Gov. Tim Kaine to raise the per pack cigarette tax in the state by 30 cents seems pretty interesting. We obviously don’t follow Virginia politics as closely as we do the District’s, but it strikes us that it would be kind of amazing if the inextricably tobacco-linked state ends up finally making its cigarettes more expensive due to the recession. Kaine is reportedly facing an estimated budget shortfall of about $2.9 billion, and the cigarette tax will just be part of his plan to get Virginia’s financial house in order. Normally, we’d be skeptical that the General Assembly would even consider passing a new tobacco tax, but given the state of the economy, it would seem pretty ridiculous if they refused. Even if the tax is passed, smokers in the D.C. area would still pay a lot less in Virginia than they do in the city; the District recently implemented an additional $1 per pack tax, making the total tax $2. The total tax per pack in Virginia under Kaine’s rumored proposal would be 50 cents.