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, passed the Senate and moved to the House on March 30th. SB1 has an exemption for retail tobacco and electronic cigarette stores.

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, passed the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding on March 31, 2016. House Bill 5624, which defines “person” for the purposes of licensure of e-cigarette sellers and manufacturers and removes the requirement that background checks be conducted prior to licensure, reported with substitute from the Joint Committee on Finance, Revenue and Bonding on March 31, 2016. Senate Bill 290, which increases the minimum purchase age to 21 for tobacco products, nicotine delivery systems and vapor products, failed to make the Joint Favorable deadline on March 23, 2016.

Indiana: Senate Bill 381, which changes the stamp discount for cigarette distributors from $0.012 to $0.013 and for tobacco distributors from $0.006 to $0.007 for tobacco products other than cigarettes and also was amended to repeal the tax on cigarette papers, was signed by the Governor and enacted on March 24, 2016.

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

Maryland: House Bill 1115, which increases the fee for a license to sell cigarettes in Montgomery County from $25 to $125, is scheduled for a hearing in the Senate Finance Committee on April 6, 2016.

Minnesota: Senate Bill 3255 and House Bill 3463 increase the cigarette wholesale license fee from $300 to $500 annually and the tobacco product wholesale license fee from $75 to $500 annually, prohibit a local retail licensing authority (city, town or county) from renewing a retailer's cigarette and tobacco licenses if retailer has been found in possession of contraband cigarettes or contraband tobacco products, require a retailer to produce an invoices for cigarettes and/or tobacco products in stock within one hour after being requested to do so by a Minnesota Department of Revenue agent or inspector, authorize the Minnesota Department of Revenue to publish a list of those retailers who have had their cigarette/tobacco licenses revoked for possession of contraband products, and appropriate $1,036,000 each year in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to cover the cost of additional inspectors/agents to enforce contraband cigarette/tobacco laws.

Massachusetts: House Bill 2434, which prohibits the sale of an alternative nicotine product to a minor, was discharged from the Joint Public Health Committee on March 30, 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, received a pass recommendation from the Senate Ways & Means Committee on March 29, 2016.

Rhode Island: House Bill 7427, which requires child-resistant packaging for electronic delivery system liquid, was recommended to be held for further study by the House Health, Education and Welfare committee on March 30, 2016.

Vermont: House Bill 879, which taxes e-cigarettes at the OTP rate of 92% of wholesale, passed the House on March 31, 2016. House Bill 93, which was amended to increase the purchase age to 21 over a three-year period beginning January 1, 2017, passed from the House Ways & Means Committee on March 31, 2016. House Bill 93 is expected to be further amended to increase the cigarette tax by $.39 per pack over three years and the OTP tax by $.32 per ounce over three years. House Bill 872, which requires any retailer of tobacco substitutes (e-cigarettes, delivery devices, etc.) to obtain a tobacco substitute endorsement from the Department of Liquor Control—requires a fee of $50—raises the annual fee for tobacco licensing or renewal from $100 to $110—requires a manufacturer's registration fee for any person manufacturing tobacco substitutes for sale in the state of $1,000 per brand annually, passed the House on March 24, 2016.

Washington: Senate Bill 6328, which prohibits the sale of vapor products to minors and also requires all retailers of vapor products to be licensed by the state (annual fee of $175.00 for each place of business), passed the House and moved to the Governor on March 30, 2016. The March 28, 2016 “engrossed” version of the bill increased the annual licensing fee from $93.00 to $175.00 for each place of business.