Indiana: Senate Bill 382, which includes the following: caps the tax on cigars with a wholesale price exceeding $3 per cigar at $0.72 each; taxes alternative nicotine products, as defined, at $0.40 per ounce; taxes closed system cartridges at 15 percent of the wholesale price; requires remote sellers, as defined, to be licensed and subject to tobacco taxes, passed out of the House Ways and Means Committee agenda for Feb. 17, 2022.
Iowa: House File 98, which defines alternative nicotine products and vapor products as tobacco products; taxes these products at the OTP rate of 50 percent of wholesale, passed from the House Committee on State Government on Feb. 15, 2022.
Maine: LD 1693 / HP1258, which bans flavored products (including menthol), doubles the cigarette tax to $4 per pack and increases OTP taxes by 100 percent, was on the work session agenda of the Joint Committee on Health and Human Services on Feb. 18, 2022.
Maryland: The following bills will be heard in the House Economic Matters Committee on March 2, 2022: House Bill 442 authorizes Baltimore City 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 licensees). House Bill 477 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). House Bill 1227 adds synthetic nicotine to the definition of tobacco products. House Bill 1341 authorizes Prince George’s County to regulate OTP and electronic smoking devices by limiting the number of licenses; imposing density restrictions; denying license applications for locations within 1500 feet of schools.
Massachusetts: The following bills were assigned to Study Order S2692:
Senate Bill 1373: Relates to the ban of menthol tobacco—changes the effective date of the flavor ban from June 1, 2020 to “2022 or 12 months from the date of passage. Senate Bill 1392: Requires retailers that sell tobacco products to stock 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. Senate Bill 1433: Repeals the state menthol ban on tobacco products (except for electronic nicotine delivery systems. Senate Bill 1459: Prohibits the sale of tobacco products except in an adult-only retail tobacco store or smoking bar (age restricted)
Nebraska: Legislative Bill 954, which preempts certain county and municipality resolutions or ordinances relating to electronic smoking devices under the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act, was considered in the Health and Human Services Committee on Feb. 17, 2022.
New York: Assembly Bill 8156, which taxes premium cigars at 75 percent of wholesale or $0.50 per cigar (whichever is less), was amended in and recommitted to the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means on Feb. 11, 2022.
Virginia: House Bill 1199 (same as SB748), which addresses remote sellers regarding taxation, licensing and record keeping; would lower OTP tax rates, passed the House on February 11, 2022. House Bill 1357, which would lower OTP tax rates and cap the cigar tax at $.30 per cigar, failed to make the crossover deadline and was left in the House Committee on Appropriations on Feb. 15, 2022. House Bill 685, which requires tobacco retailers (including ENDs retailers) to obtain a license from the Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Authority, was left in the House Committee on General Laws on Feb. 15, 2022. House Bill 1076 (same as SB25), which 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, passed the House on Feb. 11, 2022.
Washington: Several bills died by failing to meet a procedural deadline: House Bill 1676 would have replaced the quantity-based tax on vapor products with a 33 percent retail sales tax on vapor products; House Bill 2039 and Senate Bill 5768 would have allowed the state Secretary of Health to restrict sales of flavored vapor products and authorized the State Board of Health to limit the allowable nicotine concentration in vapor products.
For all the latest news from the National Association of Tobacco Outlets (NATO), visit natocentral.org.
