Warning: Constant ABSPATH already defined in /home/flanews/public_html/wp-config.php on line 34
Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » Big Tobacco vs. Cities and Counties

Welcome to

Capitol News Service

Florida's Best Political Coverage on Television

 


 


 


Recent Posts

RSS Quote of the Day

  • Charles Baudelaire
    "Everything that is beautiful and noble is the product of reason and calculation."
  • Wilson Mizner
    "The best way to keep your friends is not to give them away."
  • Benjamin Disraeli
    "Silence is the mother of truth."
  • H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
    "Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness."

Big Tobacco vs. Cities and Counties

April 23rd, 2014 by flanews

A bill banning e-cigarettes to minors almost went up in smoke thanks to big tobacco flexing their muscle.  Cities, counties, and anti-tobacco advocates were concerned they’d have local power taken away.

Banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors flew through the legislature until recently.  Cities and counties were for the ban, but they would have lost the ability to set stricter regulations on their own. The sponsor says the state needed to set the tobacco and nicotine rules.

“I believe there needs to be uniformity because the wholesalers and the distributors that actually sell 3.5 billion dollars worth of tobacco products, they just want uniformity,” said Rep. Frank Artiles (R-Miami).

Anti-smoking groups weren’t going to back his legislation until lawmakers cleared the air about whether or not they’d let cities establish future ordinances.

Heather Yeomans with the American Cancer Society says preemption of local governments is a way for big tobacco to get what they want.

“By design, it’s easier to lobby the state government than it is to lobby 67 counties and 400 separate cities,” she said.

Florida’s League of Cities had no problem with the ban.  But lobbyist Casey Cook says local governments know what’s best for their citizens when it comes to tobacco.

“Any time you preempt, you tie a local governments hands behind their back, and you prohibit them from coming up with a solution that works to help them solve a problem in their community,” said Cook.

The bill was amended without support from the sponsor to allow local governments to establish future rules. Rep. Artiles still believes the main goal of getting nicotine out of young people’s hands was reached.

“We’re ahead of the federal government, we’re acting before the FDA because we need this,” he said.

The House unanimously passed the legislation. The Senate now has to sign off on the amended bill. If the bill passes the Senate receives the Governor’s signature, the ban wouldn’t go into effect until July.

Posted in State News | Comments Off on Big Tobacco vs. Cities and Counties

Comments are closed.

copyright © 2016 by Capitol News Service | Powered by Wordpress | Hosted by LyonsHost.com