Posted by: Aaron Frazier | on February 26, 2015

Status of Utah Legislative Bills

Here’s all the bills that have any level of impact on or near our beloved industry for the 2015 legislative session.

Bill Status HB130 – Age Limit for Tobacco and Related Products Rules Committee – on hold HB131 – Tobacco Shop Amendments Senate Judiciary, Law Enforcement, and Criminal Justice Standing Committee The committee meeting will be held: Monday, March 2, 2015 4:00 PM State Capitol Building, Room 250 HB415 – Regulation of Electronic Cigarettes Rules Committee – pending committee assignment

At this time, HB130 is all but considered dead however with 2 weeks remaining, there is a possibility it can be revived. We are opposed to HB130 but supportive of HB131 as it places tobacco retailers on the same set of rules as vapor retailers as it relates to minors being present in the retail shops. The UTSFA Board and our lobbyists are monitoring things very closely and should things change, we’ll update everyone about it.

For HB415, this bill was just numbered and filed on Thursday February 25th and based on the current language, we are in opposition to it. We have been working with our lobbying team on the language to ensure it does not negatively impact the statewide industry. We have been successful in the removal of a proposed 86.5% tax which is a huge win; due in no small part to the calls and emails sent by the public. The remaining language in the bill is specific to retail and manufacturing operations with no impact to the consumers within the industry. We are however working very closely with the lobbying team and the bill sponsor to ensure no negative impact on the professional community is experienced. If the language and a few bits added, we will be able to support this bill. However should a Call to Action be necessary, one will be published but please understand that negotiations are very delicate at times and a massive push from the general public at the wrong time could be enough to create irreparable harm in the process.

We are now down to 2 weeks left in the 2015 session. Due to the timing, we have 5-7 possible days of committee meetings before rules are suspended and any bill discussion is done directly on the house/senate floor. We’ll release details of how to address this as soon as we know what needs to be done.

by

by