BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1278|
|Office of Senate Floor Analyses | |
|(916) 651-1520 Fax: (916) | |
|327-4478 | |
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1278
Author: Gray (D)
Introduced:2/27/15
Vote: 21
SENATE HEALTH COMMITTEE: 8-0, 6/10/15
AYES: Hernandez, Nguyen, Hall, Monning, Nielsen, Pan, Roth,
Wolk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Mitchell
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15 (Consent) - See last page for
vote
SUBJECT: Cigarettes and tobacco products: identification
requirements
SOURCE: Author
DIGEST: This bill specifies that an identification card (ID)
issued by the U.S. Armed Forces, as specified, to purchase a
tobacco product through the United States Postal Service or
other package delivery service satisfies the proof of age
requirement.
ANALYSIS:
Existing law:
1)Authorizes the California Department of Public Health (DPH),
under the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement (STAKE) Act,
to assess civil penalties ranging from $400 to $6,000,
depending on the number of infractions, against any person,
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Page 2
firm, or corporation that sells, gives, or in any way
furnishes tobacco products to a person who is under the age of
18.
2)Requires a person selling or distributing, or engaging in the
non-sale distribution of, tobacco products directly to a
consumer in the state through the United States Postal Service
(USPS) or package delivery service to verify that the
purchaser or recipient of the product is 18 years of age or
older through a database of government records.
3)Requires a seller, distributor, or non-sale distributor to
require a purchaser or recipient to submit an age-verification
kit and a copy of a valid form of government ID if the seller
or distributor is unable to verify through the database that
the purchaser or recipient is 18 years of age or older.
This bill specifies that if a customer or recipient who
purchases a tobacco product through the USPS or package delivery
services provides an ID issued by the U.S. Armed Forces, which
lacks a physical description but includes a date of birth and a
photo, further proof of legal age is not required.
Comments
1)Author's statement. According to the author, this bill
clarifies that military men and women of age are able to use
their military-issued IDs to receive or send tobacco products
through the USPS or other package delivery service. For many
of these individuals, military IDs are the only type of
identification they have in their possession, and this measure
would simply give military men and women the same rights
provided to the civilian population. The provisions in this
bill only apply to those tobacco products that can legally be
sent through USPS and other delivery service systems as
mandated by the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act.
2)Background. When an individual purchases tobacco products
through the USPS or through any other public or private
package delivery service, the distributor or seller is
required to verify that the individual is 18 years of age or
older by attempting to match the name, address, and date of
birth provided by the customer or recipient to information
contained in an appropriate database of government records. If
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the distributor or seller is unable to verify the individual
is 18 years of age or older, the distributor or seller is
required to require the customer or recipient to submit an
age-verification kit consisting of an attestation signed by
the customer or recipient that he or she is 18 years of age or
older, as well as a copy of a valid form of government
identification. Valid forms of government identification
include military identification issued by the Armed Forces,
which, since the year 2000, do not contain information such as
height, weight, or hair or eye color. For security purposes,
that information is now electronically encrypted in order to
avoid tampering with the card.
3)PACT Act. The federal 2010 PACT Act restricted the use of the
USPS to deliver cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco, and
smokeless tobacco. These tobacco products can no longer be
delivered via U.S. mail for consumer purchases, and mail
deliveries are generally limited to deliveries between
businesses with all applicable licenses for tobacco sales.
Pipe tobacco and cigars are not subject to the PACT Act.
Tobacco companies may still deliver cigarettes, roll-your-own,
and smokeless tobacco to consumers, subject to the PACT Act's
licensing and other requirements, via other delivery methods.
However, most major package delivery services have all
voluntary agreed not to deliver those tobacco products to
consumers.
FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal
Com.:NoLocal: No
SUPPORT: (Verified6/16/15)
None received
OPPOSITION: (Verified6/16/15)
None received
ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 5/14/15
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Bloom,
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Page 4
Bonilla, Bonta, Brough, Brown, Burke, Calderon, Campos, Chang,
Chau, Chávez, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Dahle,
Daly, Dodd, Eggman, Frazier, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Cristina
Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson, Gomez, Gonzalez,
Gordon, Gray, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Irwin, Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Kim, Lackey, Levine, Lopez, Low,
Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, McCarty, Melendez, Mullin,
Nazarian, Obernolte, O'Donnell, Olsen, Patterson, Perea,
Quirk, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago,
Steinorth, Mark Stone, Thurmond, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber,
Wilk, Williams, Wood, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Linder, Medina
Prepared by:Reyes Diaz / HEALTH /
6/16/15 14:35:16
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