A proposal to require Oregon tobacco shops to pay a certification fee was defeated yesterday by a 27-32 vote in the House. Senate Bill 416 had passed the state senate earlier in the week by a 16-13 vote, and seemed destined for passage in the house as well. It called for shops to pay for a new certification that would allow customers to continue to smoke inside, an exemption granted by the state’s Indoor Clean Air Act. The fee would have been set by the Oregon Health Authority, and it was that aspect that caused Rep. Brent Barton (D-Gladstone) to vote against it, noting the authority’s inherent dislike for tobacco stores, according to TheLundReport.org. He preferred for the fee to be stated in the statute, rather than opening the door for them to possibly be set at a punitive level. The bill also called for the certification to be renewed every five years.
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