While most state legislatures are relatively dormant, a variety of changes to how tobacco is regulated and taxed in California have been proposed under the special session on Health Care Financing Issues. Earlier this week, early steps in what is expected to be a lengthy battle on a variety of fronts got underway. There are two special legislative sessions currently underway in California and they are likely to last well into next year. One is related to transportation funding, while the other relates to health care financing. That being said, those are only broad topics for the legislature and a variety of new laws have been proposed. For cigar smokers, these include an expanded smoking ban, an increase on the minimum age to purchase tobacco from 18 to 21 and a tax increase on tobacco products. Sen. Bill Monning, D-Carmel, has proposed S.B.X2 6, which would modify the state’s smoking ban to include most businesses with greater than five employees. The introduced language shows the removing of the exemption for tobacco shops and lounges, but at a hearing earlier this week, Monning supported “smoking in cigar stores and lounges.” Not safe are the exemptions for bars, restaurants and gaming clubs. Back ...
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