Utah vaping threatened and online Utah vendors

[tybin]

[h=2] Re-posting from elsewhere in the forum

Read this now before anything else! [/h]

IF YOU DO NOT READ THIS vaping WILL NOT EXIST IN UTAH.
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HB372 is being proposed this year which has the potential to ban internet sales of your products to residents of the state by requiring face to face transactions. This bill under the current wording could also be taken to mean that it prevents you from selling via the internet to ANYONE anywhere. This is another one of Representative Ray's pet anti-smoking/nicotine bills that he introduces each year.

This bill is being heard in the House Health and Human Services Standing Committee Wednesday afternoon just after 4pm. If you value your internet sales, it is in your best interest to attend this session with details of your internet sales volumes, employees, taxes paid to the state, etc to fight for this bill to be removed.

His bill states there will be no financial impact of this bill being passed thus it's obvious he has zero clue the amount of business done in the state. He's estimating over 1.5 million in added revenue due to taxation however his bill leads me to believe the taxation for both the ecig and smokeless products will be brought to the same levels as tobacco cigarettes (although it does not specifically state how they will be taxed or at what rate). The bill also will ban all forms of advertisement for your business which could have detrimental impact to your longevity as a vendor in the state.

The links to the agenda and the bill are here:
http://le.utah.gov/~2013/agenda/HHHS0306.ag.pdf
http://le.utah.gov/~2013/bills/hbillint/HB0372.pdf

I encourage each of you to appear 1 hour before the hearing, sign up to speak and state your case to fight this one. There are 10 days left in the session so if it is fought well, it may die in committee but will not if you as vendors don't testify on Wednesday. I encourage all other concerned vapers to show up in force to support our vendors. The more people we have up there the more they will see we cannot be silenced...



http://le.utah.gov/~2013/agenda/HHHS0306.ag.pdf

IF YOU CANNOT SHOW UP PLEASE EMAIL THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE
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This is the list of reps who you guys need to voice your opinion to ASAP.. like right now.. tonight... before 8pm.. I am asking all of our customers and friends please write them all and tell then NO on HB372

Comma delimited list: pray@utah.gov, lavarchristensen@le.utah.gov, rchouck@le.utah.gov, sbarlow@le.utah.gov, tcosgrove@le.utah.gov, bgreene@le.utah.gov, rmenlove@utah.gov, mikekennedy@le.utah.gov, eredd@le.utah.gov

House Health & Human Services Committee
Rep. Paul Ray, Chair -- H: 801-774-0624 / M: 801-725-2719 -- pray@utah.gov
Rep. LaVar Christensen, Vice Chair -- C: 801-808-5105 -- lavarchristensen@le.utah.gov
Rep. Rebecca Chavez-Houck -- M: 801-891-9292 -- rchouck@le.utah.gov
Rep. Stewart Barlow -- H: 801-544-4708 / C: 801-289-6699 -- sbarlow@le.utah.gov
Rep. Tim Cosgrove -- H:801-685-0673 -- tcosgrove@le.utah.gov
Rep. Brian M. Greene -- C: 801-889-5693 -- bgreene@le.utah.gov
Rep. Ronda Rudd Menlove -- H: 435-458-9115 -- rmenlove@utah.gov
Rep. Michael S. Kennedy -- H: 801-763-1376 / C: 801-358-2362 -- mikekennedy@le.utah.gov
Rep. Edward H. Redd -- H: 435-752-3364 / C: 435-760-3177 -- eredd@le.utah.gov
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PLEASE SPREAD THE WORD

 

[Kabamm]

Are they insane? Honestly.

 

[tybin]

Some of my favorite vendors are in Utah

 

[sonicdsl]

Sent emails....

Here is the CASAA Call To Action:
CASAA: URGENT! Utah Bill to Tax E-Cigarettes and Ban Online Sales -- HB372

 

[cherrycakes]

that's horrible!

 

[LaraC]

that's horrible!

Yes, it was/would have been... but the update info in the CASAA link sonicdsl provided in the post above, is wonderful!

UPDATE (3/11/2013): The Utah House of Representatives voted NO on HB 372, which would have imposed an unnecessary tax on e-cigarette sales. CASAA would like to thank its members in Utah and nationwide for stepping up. Over 40 vapers attended the bill's committee hearing on March 6th, and the bill's sponsor, Representative Paul Ray, stated on the floor that the bill was generating a lot of e-mails in opposition.
---snipped---
Members of the Utah House of Representatives:

Please e-mail the members of the Utah House of Representatives and thank them for defeating HB372. Briefly tell your story about how e-cigarettes changed your life and remind them that you believe e-cigarettes should not be taxed like traditional tobacco products.

Utah citizens should take special care to interface with their own representative about how they voted on HB372.