STOP THE NEW VAPE TAX!

[Bozzlite]

Done several days ago. Even got a response from my Senator. He "always appreciates hearing from the people of California about the issues that matter to you most."

I got a response from my state Representative. He doesn't really commit one way or the other. No response yet from the two Senators.


Thank you for contacting me. It is good to hear from you and I’m pleased to respond.

I commend you for expressing your thoughtful concerns. Our democracy can only be successful when our citizens are aware and knowledgeable of the issues. The ability to make informed decisions on political and legislative matters, as well as current events, is an invaluable skill, and I encourage you to remain active throughout your life.

As you may know, H.R. 2786, the tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2021, would increase the excise tax on cigarettes and equalize tax rates among all other tobacco products. Opponents of this bill argue it would unfairly place a heavier tax burden on lower-income Americans without encouraging them to reduce intake of nicotine products. They also argue the tax increase would hurt small businesses who heavily rely on income from tobacco sales.

H.R. 2786 has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee where it awaits further review. You can be sure I will keep your views in mind as I monitor the progress of this legislation.

I appreciate the opportunity to work for you in Congress. Please visit www.carter.house.gov, my various social media sites (@JudgeCarter), and feel free to contact me in the future with any concerns you may have.







Sincerely,

Rep. John Carter
Member of Congress

 

[zoiDman]

With due respect for your general thoughts, I think that there is a distinct difference in the two. Expressing one's own thoughts about anything in the arena of ideas is one commendable act, expressing someone else's ideas whether through an internet petition or by signing the email authored by another is, well, I'll leave it there. It is kind of like shouting, "Yeah, right, what he said".
I don't think that anyone is advocating doing nothing or saying nothing. Or, better said, I am not advocating silence. I am advocating what I consider to be a more effective action, not just parroting the words of another.

My reply was Regarding this Statement.

"FFS, stop with the petitions and appeals.
Name one, just one, that has had any effect."

 

[SleeZy]

I got a response from my state Representative. He doesn't really commit one way or the other. No response yet from the two Senators.


Thank you for contacting me. It is good to hear from you and I’m pleased to respond.

I commend you for expressing your thoughtful concerns. Our democracy can only be successful when our citizens are aware and knowledgeable of the issues. The ability to make informed decisions on political and legislative matters, as well as current events, is an invaluable skill, and I encourage you to remain active throughout your life.

As you may know, H.R. 2786, the Tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2021, would increase the excise tax on cigarettes and equalize tax rates among all other tobacco products. Opponents of this bill argue it would unfairly place a heavier tax burden on lower-income Americans without encouraging them to reduce intake of nicotine products. They also argue the tax increase would hurt small businesses who heavily rely on income from tobacco sales.

H.R. 2786 has been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee where it awaits further review. You can be sure I will keep your views in mind as I monitor the progress of this legislation.

I appreciate the opportunity to work for you in Congress. Please visit www.carter.house.gov, my various social media sites (@JudgeCarter), and feel free to contact me in the future with any concerns you may have.







Sincerely,

Rep. John Carter
Member of Congress

To me that just sounds like the usual "pr" reply.

Especially so when he mentions that it would hurt lower income people. It hurts everyone who WANTS to quit smoking with a viable alternative. Especially if this goes through and becomes like we've in sweden. It's more expensive to vape than it is to smoke here. Snus is always touted as best other viable alternative, and it realy is, or was i should say.

Lately we've been taxed heavily on snus as well, unfairly. Couple years ago 2$ would get u a can that'll last you a day or 2. Then it slowly crept up. Mostly due EU legislations.
Now cheapest you can buy is 4$ and the brand most ppl want is 7$ rougly, slightly higher.

However buying a 10ml (max allowed) 18mg is 8$+ Or you could buy shake and vape 100ml /3mg for the whoopping price of low 25$. And higher if u want stronger, due you need nic shots, which are 5$ each if you manage to find the cheap brands. Which is also getting rarer. Usualy a 10ml/18mg nic shot is 10$

I used to be able to buy 50ml/18mg for 3-4$. Not to mention 100ml/100mg base for about 10$ which lasted months.

Well went of on a tangent here. But ye i guess all in all vaping got me off smoking luckily i was in the right time to do so, Ie early vaping days.
Newcomers now will spend more for much less and hence have a harder time to quit smoking. Or they will feel it's to expensive, when smokes are cheaper.

It's only Uk that endorse vaping, as a healthy(compared to cigarettes) and a good alternative.

 

[DaveP]

Signed and sent.

A couple of years ago I re-bottled and froze 3 liters of 100mg/ml nic. I'm still working out of the first liter and have only used a small percentage of the first liter. If you don't have stock in case this passes it could be the last time that you can buy nic and nic products. Don't let them push you out of your vaping rights.

 

[BobbyV]

Taxing a product at an excessive rate only drive sales underground. A $20 tax on a 60 ml bottle of 6 mg juice that retails for about $10 is crazy. I wrote to my elected representatives in DC and Austin but I don't expect much as they're inundated with angry emails regarding their passing of the Heartbeat Act.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

A $20 tax on a 60 ml bottle of 6 mg juice that retails for about $10 is crazy.

Yep, it is crazy. The thing about crazy things is they usually can get crazier.. A liter of 100 mg/ml base nic liq would have a $5,500 tax on it. On a bottle that's about $50..

 

[WorksForMe]

This could change in a heartbeat, but..



.

 

[BURT-100]

As this is clearly meant to harm the vaping industry while they steal billions, but the complete disregard for the health and well being of millions is beyond criminal, and I had to rewrite it to reflect that fact.

 

[Ivansgarage]

Ever see what cigs cost in New York

State Price Tax pack of cigarettes
New York $12.85 tax $4.35

The best part, the southern border, tons of drugs coming
across... go figure... its cheaper to do drugs... fentanol?

 

[Bliss Doubt]

There's a new CASAA call to action. I got it yesterday, so if it's been posted on ECF, apologies for the duplication. Apparently the big vape tax was removed from the BBB bill (I didn't know that), but now the criminals on the hill have sneaked it back in there.

On the CASAA action page:

URGENT UPDATE A crushing and excessive tax on safer nicotine products is added back into the funding bill for President Biden's so-called "Build Back Better" plan.

PLEASE MAKE CONTACT WITH YOUR MEMBERS OF CONGRESS AND URGE THEM TO REJECT THIS DANGEROUS AND UNNECESSARY TAX!


I used intentional wording in a couple of ways. I avoided using the term "electronic cigarette" or "e-cigarette" because people don't understand what it means any more. Vaping has become the prevalent term, and I believe it should remain so. I also kept in mind one of the early YouTube vape reviewers in the UK, who said, about contacting your governing entities, "you need to use strong wording but you can't just say suck my dick. You have to use strong wording to avoid saying suck my dick". So I took a dig at John Cornyn, who is a prime example of why we need congressional term limits.

I wrote:

Thanks to vaping, I have not had a cigarette in nearly ten years, so I do not understand yet another attempt to tax vaping products to the point that I can no longer afford them. It is just another example of having my taxes used against me.

I urge you to reject the new tax on tobacco harm reduction products, including vaping, in President Biden's spending bill. Vaping is the most successful smoking cessation method ever known, so this inclusion only shows that public health is the last thing our president has in mind. It will cause former smokers to resume using deadly tobacco cigarettes. A punitive tax on vaping products is absurd and grossly inappropriate.

I don't expect that rotting relic Cornyn to respond to my concern. I only expect him, as usual, to do whatever Big Tobacco tells him to do, but I, along with my fellow members of The Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association (CASAA), urge resistance to calls for increased taxes and overregulation from misguided activists that seek to impede adult access smoking harm reduction products.

 

[somdcomputerguy]

Apparently the big vape tax was removed from the BBB bill (I didn't know that), but now the criminals on the hill have sneaked it back in there.

Ya but the tax proposal they snuck in is only about 3 (instead of more than 5) cents a miggle, so it's not that bad right?

 

[Bliss Doubt]

[QUOTE="Bliss Doubt, post: 23407283, member: 111691"Apparently the big vape tax was removed from the BBB bill (I didn't know that), but now the criminals on the hill have sneaked it back in there.

Ya but the tax proposal they snuck in is only about 3 (instead of more than 5) cents a miggle, so it's not that bad right? [/QUOTE]

 

[Bozzlite]

I got a response from Rep John Carter. He said he would definitely keep my view in mind. Ha ha, I sent him a canned response, and he sent me one back.

 

[SonnyCrack]

Off to POTUS to be signed into law........... Hope ya'll stocked up on Nic!

 

[Myrany]

Off to POTUS to be signed into law........... Hope ya'll stocked up on Nic!

Maybe I am confused.

I thought the tax was part of the "Build back Better" Bill. That one as far as I can see has not yet been voted on. Infrastructure is what passed tonight.

Build Back Better even if passed in the House still has to go to the Senate where there is some opposition to it.

 

[Drewps5co0tt]

Maybe I am confused.

I thought the tax was part of the "Build back Better" Bill. That one as far as I can see has not yet been voted on. Infrastructure is what passed tonight.

Build Back Better even if passed in the House still has to go to the Senate where there is some opposition to it.

You are correct, two different plans/packages. What was passed late last night has nothing to do with nic taxes.

 

[Ipster]

I got a response from Rep John Carter. He said he would definitely keep my view in mind. Ha ha, I sent him a canned response, and he sent me one back.

Sadly when I write my US Senators and Reps, its all I get also: Canned responses.

 

[Drewps5co0tt]

This could change in a heartbeat, but..



.

That is good news. The problem is members of congress put the language back into the bill even though the White House rejected it. The question is are they going to reject it again? Then we might have a savior of grace in the U.S. Senate backed by Joe Manchin who is heavily against this nic tax. He claims he's reaching out to dems in the House and Senate to get this part of the bill killed. One can only pray something positive happens this year with the vaping industry. I mean cut as a break already, geez!

 

[Drewps5co0tt]

I noticed CASAA readjusted the nicotine tax rates with a new chart on their page. It's great to see those number about half of what they were but it's still too high!

 

[Vapeon4Life]

Possible Senate opposition needs to be encouraged
With the White House on board, and willing to help Congress break President Biden’s repeated promise not to increase taxes on low- and middle-income Americans, preventing passage of a draconian tax on non-combustible nicotine users will fall to Democrats in the Senate.

The BBB bill has no Republican support, and can only be passed (if it is passed at all) through the budget reconciliation process, which requires a simple majority in both houses of Congress. The House of Representatives appears ready to pass it with the nicotine tax included, but a small number of Democratic senators have expressed concerns over the cost of the bill, and a few have said they oppose the nicotine tax.

The bad news is that, as a vote on the BBB Act gets closer, senators will face incredible pressure to support any bill backed by party leadership and the White House. The good news is that it will just take one Democratic senator to stop the tax by demanding it be removed.

Senators Joe Manchin (West Virginia), Catherine Cortez Masto (Nevada), and Kyrsten Sinema (Arizona) have indicated they don’t support a tax primarily on nicotine vaping. But that isn’t written in stone, and additional emails from constituents could help them firm up their stand against the unfair, business-killing nicotine tax.

It’s important for every vaper to contact their elected officials to express opposition to the proposed Build Back Better Act nicotine tax—but emails from residents of Arizona, Nevada and West Virginia are especially crucial at this moment.

Nicotine Tax Update: What's Changed and What's Ahead