LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An attempt to more than triple Nebraska’s cigarette tax has stalled in a legislative committee.

The Revenue Committee rejected the proposal on Monday, with two senators voting for it and six against it.

The bill by Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island would have increased the tax from 64 cents to $2.14 per pack. The excise tax rate on other tobacco products would have risen from 20 percent to 31 percent.

The cigarette tax would have generated an estimated $45 million for the state’s property tax credit fund, which offsets local property taxes, and $45 million to pay for personal property tax exemptions. Another $30 million would have paid for various public health programs.

Gloor says the bill’s defeat shows the tobacco industry’s strength.