North Dakota Call to Action: Two bills threaten to hike wholesale taxes on OTP and impose taxes on E-cigarettes.

[Robino1]

Two bills, HB 1421 and SB 2322, have been introduced into the North Dakota Legislature that would raise the tax on "other tobacco products" (OTP) to a punitive 43.5% and 50% on wholesale, respectively. There is some ambiguity as to whether e-cigarettes are included in these bills by altering the state's definition of OTP to include "any product which is made up or composed of tobacco, in whole or in part", however, CASAA expects amendments will be offered to ensure that e-cigarettes are indeed included. The issue was debated in the Assembly this past week in relation to another tax-related bill.

It is likely that amendments will be offered to specifically tax vapor products. We need to fight the bills themselves which nearly double the tax on low-risk, smoke-free OTP products like snus.

HB 1421 will be heard in the House Finance & Taxation Committee on Tuesday, Feb 2nd.

SB 2322 will be heard in the Senate Finance & Taxation Committee on Wednesday, Feb 3rd

Take action:

Oppose HB 1421 Send an Email

Oppose SB 2322 Send and Email

Call to Action: CASAA: North Dakota Call to Action: Two bills threaten to hike wholesale taxes on OTP and impose taxes on E-cigarettes.

 

[amoret]

Have you heard anything more on this? I contacted my legislators right away, but haven't seen anything new on the vaping part since. There's lots of back and forth on the cigarette portion, but nothing on the vaping.

 

[JustJulie]

We have received word that SB 2322 -- a 50% tax on OTP that has been expanded to include e-cigarette devices and liquid -- has likely been scheduled for a hearing on MONDAY, 2/16/15 in the Senate Appropriations Committee. Even if this bill fails in the committee, it will still advance to the full senate. The House “companion bill” (HB1421) could be heard on the floor of the House this coming Wednesday as well.

Please take action now to oppose these bills! It is crucial that North Dakota advocates make phone calls and send emails to their senators.

• Oppose SB 2322 - Make a Call
  
• Oppose SB 2322 - Send an Email
  
• Oppose HB 1421 - Send an Email

If you plan to attend the hearings, please see here for tips on testifying in ND Committee hearings.

Full CTA: CASAA: North Dakota Call to Action: Two bills threaten to hike wholesale taxes on OTP and impose taxes on E-cigarettes.

 

[Robino1]

Merged the two North Dakota Threads. JustJulie's post is an update!

 

[amoret]

I did the emails for these, though I ended up pretty much gutting and rewriting them since we tend to go for direct and simple. I did receive one response:
From Tim Matthern

All items that are approved cessation aids are exempted. Thanks .

To which I replied with more info.

 

[amoret]

There also was one interesting article in the Grand Forks Herald today: House rejects tobacco tax hike, approves bills banning e-cigarettes to minors | Grand Forks Herald.

In response to that I'm working on a letter to the editor and my legislators confirming that e-cigarettes are not tobacco products.

 

[Bill Godshall]

The North Dakota House rejected (with a 56-34 vote) HB 1431, which would have increased the cigarette and OTP tax rates (but not as much as SB 2322 would) and would NOT have taxed e-cigs.
North Dakota Bill Actions: HB 1421
http://www.legis.nd.gov/assembly/64-2015/documents/15-0830-02000.pdf?20150216152139

 

[amoret]

This is the response I received today from my representative:

Dear Amoret,
Thank you for your input on these bills. As you probably know by now the bill to sharply increase the tobacco tax was soundly defeated in the ND House of Representatives. I voted against raising the taxes.
Whether e-cigarettes are classified as tobacco products or not will really be determined by the federal government through the FDA. They proposed last spring to include them as tobacco products and the proposed regulations have been out for public comment for several months. They will make their final determination this spring and then the states can make their final determination.
Thank you again for corresponding with us on these issues.

 

[amoret]

The senate committee managed to amend it to make it even worse:

The strikeouts aren't coming through in copy/paste, but basically they broadened the definition. This is the added definition part.

...any product not otherwise
defined in this section, which is made up of, composed of, or derived from tobacco, in
whole or in part, which can be ingested in any way . " Other tobacco products" includes
any product or device that contains nicotine and any separately sold component o f
such a product or device . "Other tobacco products" does not include a product that
delivers nicotine for human consumption if that product has been approved by the
United States food and drug administration for sale as a tobacco - cessation product.

 

[amoret]

Bill to raise tobacco tax fails in N.D. Senate vote | Grand Forks Herald

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

The House did approve a bill banning the use of e-cigarettes by minors while also defining them as a non-tobacco product.

Find this bill and get behind it, Georgia passed one last year that defined e-cigarettes as a vapor product not a tobacco product or alternative nicotine product and leaving the decision on purchasing vapor products for minors up to the parents if being used at home. This became law on July 1, 2014.

http://www.legis.ga.gov/Legislation/20132014/144960.pdf

Worth looking at.