The following bills were recently introduced in state legislatures:

Arkansas: Senate Bill 285 adds vapor products to the Clean Indoor Air Act.

Florida: House Bill 649 creates 4 separate surcharge taxes on a pack of cigarettes of $2.00 per pack, $.042 per cigarette, $.339 per pack, and $.0141 per cigarette, that would be in addition to what is already being taxed at the state and federal levels.

Kentucky: House Bill 263 increases tobacco taxes as follows: cigarette tax by $1.00 per pack; snuff to $.51 per unit (1.5 ounces); chewing tobacco to $.51 per single unit of 4 ounces / $1.07 per half-pound unit / $1.73 per pound unit; other tobacco products (including e-cigarettes) taxed at 40% of wholesale.

Maryland: Senate Bill 624 (cross-filed with House Bill 354) prohibits the use of e-cigarettes in indoor areas open to the public, indoor places of employment and certain designated private areas (excludes vapor retail stores). Senate Bill 669 prohibits the sale of tobacco products to an individual under the age of 21.

New York Assembly Bill 4377 requires retailers of electronic cigarettes, not otherwise registered with the Department of Taxation and Finance to sell tobacco products, to register with the Department of Health. Assembly Bill 4722 prohibits the erection or maintenance of billboards advertising alcohol or tobacco products within a one-mile radius of schools or daycare centers.

Oklahoma: House Bill 1841 increases the tax on cigarettes by $1.50 per pack. House Bill 1818 increases the legal age to purchase tobacco and vapor products from 18 to 21 years of age.

Oregon: Senate Bill 180 and House Bill 2062 impose a new tax on e-liquid that is sold separately from an inhalant delivery system or sold in a disposable cartridge at the rate of 95% of the wholesale price. Both SB180 and HB2062 would also impose an excise tax on vapor products at the rate of 70% of the wholesale price of an inhalant delivery system that is sold containing e-liquid that does not require additional components for use. Senate Bill 235 would prohibit the retail sale of vapor products without a license. Senate Bill 754 increases the legal age to purchase tobacco and vapor products from 18 years of age to 21 years of age.

Pennsylvania: House Bill 403 repeals the local option cigarette tax authority of school districts of the first class.

Rhode Island: Senate Bill 206 modifies the definition of “little cigars” to 4.5 pounds per 1,000, and requires “little cigars” to be in packs of 20 or more and taxes “little cigars” in the same manner as cigarettes. Senate Bill 232 prohibits the sale of electronic nicotine-delivery systems without having a license to sell cigarettes and/or tobacco products.

Tennessee: Senate Bill 303 (same as House Bill 122) allows local governments, airports, and utility districts to regulate the use and possession of tobacco products in all public places, places of employment, and parks within the entity's jurisdiction as long as the regulations are more stringent than those in effect under state law. House Bill 1364 and Senate Bill 876 increase the cigarette tax from 3.1 cents per cigarette to 8.45 cents per cigarette and the OTP rate from 6.6% to 17.0%.

Utah: House Bill 325, which increases the penalties on retailers selling tobacco to underage persons, was introduced on February 8, 2017.

Washington: House Bill 1919 would allow a person holding a tobacco products retailer’s license to apply for a special endorsement as a cigar lounge or retail tobacconist shop. House Bill 1946 would exempt pipe tobacco from the prohibition on shipping or transporting tobacco products ordered or purchased by mail or through the internet.

West Virginia: Senate Bill 37 would increase the legal age to purchase tobacco and vapor products from 18 to 21.