STAND. COM. REP. NO. 783
Honolulu, Hawaii
RE: S.B. No. 1447
S.D. 1
Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi
President of the Senate
Thirty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2023
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1447 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO TOBACCO PRODUCTS,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose and intent of this measure is to:
(1) Clarify that county ordinances or regulations that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices are null and void only if they are in direct conflict with or less stringent than state law that governs smoking; and
(2) Clarify that counties retain the authority to adopt ordinances that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco products, and electronic smoking devices, as long as the ordinances do not directly conflict with and are more stringent than the provisions in state law that govern smoking.
Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Health, Hawai‘i State Association of Counties, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, Friends of Kamalani and Lydgate Park, Hawaii COPD Coalition, Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, American Lung Association in Hawai‘i, Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i's Youth Council, and twelve individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Aloha Petroleum, Ltd. dba Aloha Petroleum; Kalalau Awawa, LLC dba Minit Stop; Par Hawaii, LLC; Americans for Tax Reform; Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Inc.; Hawaii Smokers Alliance; and eleven individuals.
Your
Committee finds that geographic tobacco-related disparities are a serious
public health problem in Hawaii that requires innovative, community-based
solutions. According to the Department
of Health, while 11.6 percent of adults in the general population smoke, adults
in Hawaii County have the highest prevalence of smoking at 14.0 percent. Smoking within certain subcommunities
throughout the State are even higher. Your
Committee further finds that youth who live on neighbor islands evidence more
current tobacco use than those who live in the City and County of Honolulu. Given the existence of these geographic
disparities, there is an urgent need for counties to have the ability to
regulate access to tobacco products especially among youth. Additionally, existing state laws have
created ambiguity in the effectiveness of county ordinances to regulate smoking
that are not in direct conflict with other provisions. This measure will preserve the legal ability
of counties to adopt ordinances that regulate the sale of cigarettes, tobacco
products, and electronic smoking devices in a manner that is more stringent than
but not in direct conflict with state law in an effort to be responsive to
pressing community needs.
Accordingly,
your
Committee has amended this measure by:
(2) Amending section 1 to reflect its amended
purpose;
(3) Inserting
an effective date of July 1,
2050, to encourage further
discussion; and
(4) Making
technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and
consistency.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1447, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1447, S.D. 1.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection,
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________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair |
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