State tobacco-related legislative bills that have been introduced in the past week are listed below alphabetically by state:
Arizona: House Bill 2125 requires a state tobacco retail license administered by the Department of Health Services and allows local jurisdictions to license and regulate tobacco product sales.
Florida: House Bill 6081 and Senate Bill 1022 repeal the state preemption on the establishment of the minimum age for purchasing or possessing, and the regulation for the marketing, sale, or delivery of, tobacco and nicotine products.
Indiana: House Bill 1379 prohibits the sale of flavored tobacco products and flavored e-liquids—no exemption for menthol. Senate Bill 359 caps the tax on cigars with a wholesale price exceeding $3 per cigar at $0.72 each. Senate Bill 86 increases the penalty for a person who transports cigarettes which do not bear an Indiana tax stamp over Indiana state highways and fails to carry invoices or delivery tickets for the cigarettes to a level 6 felony.
Kentucky: House Bill 190 increases the surtax on cigarettes by $6 per pack; increases the excise tax on snuff by $6 per 1.5 ounces; increases the excise tax on chewing tobacco by $6 per each single unit; increases the excise tax on tobacco products by 70% of the actual price; increases the excise tax on closed vapor cartridges by $6.00 per cartridge; increases the excise tax on closed vaping systems by 70 percent of the actual price for which the distributor sells the product. (Imposes a floor stock tax.) House Bill 201 increases taxes: cigarettes by $0.50 per pack, snuff to $0.51 per unit (1.5 ounce), chewing tobacco to $0.51 per single unit / $1.07 for half-pound unit / $1.73 for one-pound unit and tobacco products (including vapor products) to 40 percent of the distributor sales price; removes the discount for modified risk tobacco products. (Includes a floor tax.)
Maryland: Senate Bill 99 authorizes a county or municipality to enact and enforce local laws to regulate the sale and distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products and electronic smoking devices (excludes taxes and issuance of licenses).
Mississippi: Senate Bill 2062 redefines “tobacco product” to include vapor product to impose the OTP excise tax of 15 percent of the manufacturer’s list price on all vapor products.
Missouri: House Bill 2280 prohibits the distribution or sale of novelty lighters.
Nebraska: Legislative Bill 954 prohibits a county or municipality from adopting an ordinance or resolution more restrictive than current vaping restrictions, including prohibiting flavored vapor products.
New Jersey: Senate Bill 299 prohibits the sale of menthol cigarettes. Senate Bill 305 prohibits the sale of tobacco products and electronic smoking devices at pharmacies. Assembly Bill 1989 prohibits the sale of menthol cigarettes and flavored electronic smoking devices and related products. Assembly Bill 879 caps the cigar tax at $0.50 per cigar. Assembly Bill 2025 requires tobacco products retailers (excludes cigar shops) to carry and offer for sale at least one nicotine replacement therapy, drug, device or combination product that has been approved by the FDA for tobacco cessation use.
New Mexico: House Bill 33 increases the tax on cigarettes by $2 per pack, increases the OTP tax (includes nicotine products, regardless of the source of the nicotine) to 77 percent of the product value, increases the tax on e-liquid to 77 percent of the product value, and increases the tax on closed system cartridges to $3.32 per cartridge. This bill has been pre-filed for the 2022 legislative session.
Vermont: House Bill 602 prohibits the sale of tobacco products, including cigarettes, utilizing single-use filters.
Virginia: Senate Bill 25 (same as House Bill 1076) requires any locality that increases its tax rate on cigarettes to allow a person with unsold inventory to pay the tax increase on the unsold inventory by filing a return for one calendar year after the tax increase; defines “unsold inventory” for the purposes of this provision to mean cigarettes held prior to the tax rate increase.
Washington: Senate Bill 5768 bans the sale of vapor products containing nicotine salts and allows the state Secretary of Health to restrict sales of flavored vapor products and limit the allowable nicotine concentration in vapor products.
West Virginia: House Bill 2254 establishes different rates of taxation of tobacco products for certain border counties. House Bill 2519 repeals provisions prohibiting employers from discriminating for use of tobacco products.
State tobacco-related legislative bills that have been acted on by a state legislative committee or state legislature are listed below alphabetically by state:
Maryland: Senate Bill 99, authorizes a county or municipality to enact and enforce local laws to regulate the sale and distribution of cigarettes, other tobacco products and electronic smoking devices (excludes taxes and issuance of licenses), will be heard in the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 27, 2022.
New Hampshire: House Bill 591, which, as amended, establishes retail tobacco license fees: $216 (one cash register); $408 (2-3 cash registers); $648 (4 or more cash registers) and allows alcoholic beverage licensees to apply for a retail tobacco license for an additional annual fee of $6 per location, passed the House on Jan. 6, 2022. Senate Bill 314, which reduces the state excise tax on modified risk tobacco products, was heard in the Senate Ways and Means Committee on Jan. 12, 2022 (no vote taken).
New Jersey: Assembly Bill 6020, which requires tobacco products retailers (excludes cigar shops) to carry and offer for sale at least one nicotine replacement therapy, drug, device or combination product that has been approved by the FDA for tobacco cessation use, passed the Assembly on Dec. 20, 2021.
For all the latest news from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), visit natocentral.org.
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