NJ State Tobacco Control Bills Voted Through Committees (Star-Ledger, Brent Johnson)
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On March 7, multiple tobacco control bills were voted through various Senate and Assembly Committees in Trenton:
- NJ Senate’s budget committee approved a bill that would raise the age people to sell tobacco and electronic smoking devices from age 19 to 21 (A359).
- NJ Senate health committee approved a bill that would allow New Jersey municipalities to fine people up to $200 for smoking in public, but not allow the police to issue a petty disorderly persons offense (S1731).
- NJ Assembly’s health committee approved three pieces of smoking-related legislation:
- Voted 10-1 to increase the tax on tobacco products to be on par with the tax rate imposed on cigarettes, and dedicate revenue to programs aiming to end smoking and tobacco use (A1815).
- Voted 8-3 to restore $7.5 million in the state budget to the state health department for anti-tobacco programs (A2219).
- Voted 9-0 to dedicate 5 percent of cigarette tax revenue to anti-smoking programs operated by the state health department that have seen reduced funding in recent state budgets (A3338).
All of the bills need to be passed by the full Senate and Assembly and then approved by Governor Christie to become law
Read the full Star-Ledger story.