Steve K's Vaping World

This is a syndicated post, which originally appeared at CASAA. View original post.

URGENT (5/20/2013): This bill may be heard before the New York Assembly Health Committee on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  Public testimony is generally not taken at these meetings, but vapers should attend.  Please e-mail us at board@casaa.org if you can attend.  

If this bill does pass the Health Committee, this battle is far from over.  In 2010 and 2011, the Health Committee voted to ban sales of electronic cigarettes to adults.  Neither became law, and that was thanks in part to the hundreds or thousands of comments these legislators received in opposition. 

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New York: Bill to Tax E-Cigarettes & Smokeless Tobacco at 95% of Wholesale Price — A.B. 7106

[full text + legislative tracking]

If enacted, this bill wold:

1. Tax electronic cigarettes products containing nicotine by redefining “tobacco products” under New York law to include any product “containing tobacco or nicotine that is intended or expected to be consumed.” 
2. Impose a wholesale tax on all smoke-free products (e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, dissolvable tobacco) of 95%.  E-cigarettes are not currently taxed under New York law, but enactment of this bill would constitute a 27% increase for adult smokeless tobacco consumers.  
3. Require e-cigarette vendors to obtain a tobacco retail license to sell e-cigarettes (see N.Y. TAX LAW § 480-A)

If you are from New York, please also contact your representative in the New York General Assembly and Senate and tell them that you’re an e-cigarette or smokeless tobacco user, you vote, and you don’t want the unnecessary tax hike in A.B. 7106 to become law.

Please call, write, or fax the members of the New York General Assembly Health Committee below:

1. You oppose A.B. 7106 because it would impose a new, unwarranted tax on smoke-free electronic cigarettes. Further note that A.B. 7106 would result in e-cigarettes costing more than cigarettes!  

2. Tell your story on how switching to an e-cigarette or smoke-free tobacco product has changed your life.

3. Explain that the purpose of increasing cigarette taxes has been to cover governmental healthcare expenditure caused by smoking and to discourage smoking. But since electronic cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and dissolvables are 98-99% less hazardous than cigarettes, there is no fiscal or public health justification for such a hefty tax.

4. Tell them that this year, committees in the Maine and New Mexico legislatures rejected bill with similar broad redefinitions of “tobacco products.” 

5. Since many/most e-cigarette sales are made online, enactment of this legislation would negatively impact businesses in New York that sell e-cigarettes, as many consumers would choose to use out-of-state and international online suppliers.

6. Many smokers who switch to less hazardous electronic cigarettes do so because e-cigarettes are less expensive than cigarettes. Increasing the costs of e-cigarettes to that of cigarettes would discourage many smokers from switching to e-cigarettes. It could also encourage some e-cigarette consumers to go back to cigarette smoking.

Members of the New York General Assembly Health Committee 

Comma delimited e-mail list:  gottfriedr@assembly.state.ny.us, barroni@assembly.state.ny.us, borellij@assembly.state.ny.us, cahillk@assembly.state.ny.us, clarkb@assembly.state.ny.us, cymbros@assembly.state.ny.us, dinowij@assembly.state.ny.us, dipietrod@assembly.state.ny.us, galefs@assembly.state.ny.us, goodella@assembly.state.ny.us, gunthea@assembly.state.ny.us, hevesia@assembly.state.ny.us, jacobsr@assembly.state.ny.us, lavinec@assembly.state.ny.us, mcdonod@assembly.state.ny.us, paulina@assembly.state.ny.us, peoplec@assembly.state.ny.us, rae@assembly.state.ny.us, raiaa@assembly.state.ny.us, rodriguezrj@assembly.state.ny.us, rosentl@assembly.state.ny.us, schimmr@assembly.state.ny.us, ortizf@assembly.state.ny.us, titonem@assembly.state.ny.us, walterr@assembly.state.ny.us


Hon. Richard N. Gottfried (D – Manhattan)
242 West 27th Street 
New York, NY 10001  
Office Phone: 518-455-5939  
In-District Phone: 212-807-7900  
GottfriedR@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Inez D. Barron (D – Brooklyn).
669 Vermont St.
Brooklyn, NY 11207
Office Phone: 518-455-5912
In-District Phone: 718-257-5824
BarronI@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Joseph Borelli (R – Staten Island)
101 Tyrellan Avenue, Suite 200
Staten Island, NY  10309
Office Phone: 518-455-4495
In-District Phone: 718-967-5194
BorelliJ@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Kevin A. Cahill (D- Kingston)
Governor Clinton Bldg. Suite G-4, 1 Albany Ave.
Kingston, NY 12401
Office Phone: 518-455-4436
In-District Phone: 845-338-9610
CahillK@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Barbara M. Clark (D – Ithaca)
97-01 Springfield Boulevard
Queens Village, NY 11429
Office Phone: 518-455-4711
In-District Phone: 718-479-2333
ClarkB@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Steven Cymbrowitz (D – Brooklyn)
1800 Sheepshead Bay Road
Brooklyn, NY 11235
Office Phone: 518-455-5214
In-District Phone: 716-743-4078
CymbroS@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Jeffrey Dinowitz (D – The Bronx)
3107 Kingsbridge Avenue
Bronx, NY 10463
Office Phone: 518-455-5965
In-District Phone: 718-796-5345
DinowiJ@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. David DiPietro (R – East Aurora)
2371 North Main Street
Warsaw, NY 14569
Office Phone: 518-455-5314
In-District Phone: 585-786-0180
DiPietroD@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Sandy Galef (D – Ossining)
2 Church Street
Ossining, NY 10562
Office Phone: 518-455-5348
In-District Phone: 914-941-1111
GalefS@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Andrew Goodell (R – Jamestown)
Fenton Building 2 E. 2nd St. Ste.320
Jamestown
Office Phone: 518-455-4511
In-District Phone: 716-664-7773
goodella@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Aileen Gunther (D – Aileen)
Middletown City Hall, 3rd Flr., 16 James Street
Middletown, NY 10940
Office Phone: 518-455-5355
In-District Phone: 845-342-9304
GuntheA@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Andrew Hevesi (D – Forest Hills)
70-50 Austin Street, Suite 110
Forest Hills, NY 11375
Office Phone: 518-455-4926
In-District Phone: 718-263-5595
HevesiA@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Rhoda Jacobs (D – Brooklyn)
2294 Nostrand Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11210
Office Phone: 518-455-5385
In-District Phone: 718-434-0446
JacobsR@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Charles Lavine (D – Glen Cove)
70 Glen St., Suite 100
Glen Cove, NY 11542
Office Phone: 518-455-5467
In-District Phone: 516-676-0071
LavineC@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. David McDonough (R – Merrick)
404 Bedford Ave.
Bellmore, NY 11710
Office Phone: 518-455-4633
In-District Phone: 516-409-2070
McDonoD@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Amy Paulin (D – Scarsdale)
700 White Plains Rd., Suite 252
Scarsdale, NY 10583
Office Phone: 518-455-5585
In-District Phone: 914-723-1115
PaulinA@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Crystal Peoples-Stokes (D – Buffalo)
792 E. Delavan Avenue
Buffalo, NY 14215
Office Phone: 518-455-5005
In-District Phone: 716-897-9714
PeopleC@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Edward Ra (R – Franklin Square)
Chase Bldg. 925 Hempstead Tnpk. Rm.350
Franklin Square, NY 11010
Office Phone: 518-455-4627
In-District Phone: 516-437-5577
rae@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Andrew Raia (R – East Northport)
75 Woodbine Avenue
Northport, NY 11768
Office Phone: 518-455-5952
In-District Phone: 631-261-4151
RaiaA@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Robert Rodriguez (D – Manhattan)
55 East 115th St.
NewYork, NY 10029
Office Phone: 518-455-4781
In-District Phone: 212-828-3953
rodriguezrj@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Linda Rosenthal (D – Manhattan)
230 W. 72 St, Ste. 2F
New York, NY 10023
Office Phone: 518-455-5802
In-District Phone: 212-873-6368
RosentL@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Robin Schimminger (D – Kenmore)
3514 Delaware Avenue
Kenmore, NY 14217
Office Phone: 518-455-4767
In-District Phone: 716-873-2540
SchimmR@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Eric Stevenson (D – The Bronx)
3215 3rd Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11220
Office Phone: 518-455-3821
In-District Phone: 718-492-6334
OrtizF@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Matthew Titone (D – Staten Island)
853 Forest Avenue
Staten Island, NY 10310
Office Phone: 518-455-4677
In-District Phone: 718-442-9932
TitoneM@assembly.state.ny.us

Hon. Raymond Walter (R – East Amherst)
5555 Main St. 
Williamsville, NY 14221
Office Phone: 518-455-4618
In-District Phone: 716-634-1895
walterr@assembly.state.ny.us