The following is a summary of recent action that has taken place on tobacco-related bills pending in state legislatures:

Alaska:  Senate Bill 1, which prohibits smoking (includes e-cigarettes) in public places, received a “Do Pass with Substitute” recommendation from the Senate Finance Committee on March 23, 2016 and moved to the Senate Rules Committee.

Connecticut:  Senate Bill 451, which establishes a civil penalty of $1,000 per day for any distributor or importer that fails to immediately produce tobacco products tax records upon request, was heard in the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding on March 18, 2016.

Hawaii:  Senate Bill 2083, which prohibits smoking in vehicles with minors present, passed the Senate on March 8, 2016 and passed the House Committee on Judiciary on March 22, 2016.  Senate Bill 2690, which increases the cigarette tax by an unspecified amount, passed the House Health Committee on March 23, 2016.

Kansas:  Senate Bill 63, which was recently amended and now includes a section that changes the effective date of the new tax of $.20 per millimeter of nicotine in electronic cigarettes (which was passed in the 2015 legislative session) from July 1, 2016 to January 1, 2017, passed the House and moved to the Senate for concurrence on March 22, 2016.

New Hampshire:  House Bill 1208, which changes several definitions to the tobacco tax laws, including the definition of a premium cigar by removing the criteria that cigars wholesale for $2.00 or more, is set for a hearing in the Senate Ways & Means Committee on March 29, 2016.