BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 977
Page 1
SENATE THIRD READING
SB
977 (Pan)
As Amended June 15, 2016
Majority vote
SENATE VOTE: 33-5
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|Committee |Votes|Ayes |Noes |
| | | | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Arts |6-1 |Chu, Hadley, Levine, |Obernolte |
| | |Low, Medina, Nazarian | |
| | | | |
|----------------+-----+----------------------+--------------------|
|Appropriations |13-5 |Gonzalez, Bloom, |Bigelow, Gallagher, |
| | |Bonta, Calderon, |Jones, Obernolte, |
| | |Chang, Daly, Eggman, |Wagner |
| | |Roger Hernández, | |
| | |Holden, Quirk, | |
| | |Santiago, Weber, Wood | |
| | | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY: This bill would prohibit a person from smoking a
tobacco product, as defined, within 250 feet of a youth sports
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event, as defined, and broaden the definition of "smoke or
smoking" in existing law. Specifically, this bill:
1)Declares that a person shall not smoke a cigarette, cigar, or
other tobacco-related product or dispose of cigarette butts,
cigar butts, or any other tobacco-related waste within 25 feet
of a playground or a tot lot sandbox area.
2)Prohibits any person located in the same park or facility
where a youth sports event is taking place from using a
tobacco product within 250 feet of the youth sports event.
3)Contains the following definitions:
a) "Youth sports event" means any practice, game, or
related activity organized by any entity at which athletes
up to 18 years of age are present.
b) "Smoke or smoking" is redefined to mean inhaling,
exhaling, burning, or carrying any lighted or heated cigar,
cigarette, or pipe, or any other lighted or heated tobacco
or plant product intended for inhalation, whether natural
or synthetic, in any manner or in any form. "Smoking"
includes the use of an electronic smoking device that
creates an aerosol or vapor, in any manner or in any form,
or the use of any oral smoking device for the purpose of
circumventing the prohibition of smoking.
c) "Tobacco product" means any of the following:
i) A product containing, made, or derived from tobacco
or nicotine that is intended for human consumption,
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whether smoked, heated, chewed, absorbed, dissolved,
inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other
means, including, but not limited to, cigarettes, cigars,
little cigars, chewing tobacco, pipe tobacco, or snuff.
ii) An electronic device that delivers nicotine or other
vaporized liquids to the person inhaling from the device,
including, but not limited to, an electronic cigarette,
cigar, pipe, or hookah.
iii) Any component, part, or accessory of a tobacco
product, whether or not sold separately.
4)Excludes a nicotine replacement product approved by the United
States Food and Drug Administration from the definition of
prohibited tobacco product.
5)Prohibits the preemption of the authority of any county, city,
or city and county to regulate the use of tobacco products
around a youth sports event. Allows a county, city, or city
and county to enforce any ordinance adopted before January 1,
2017, or to adopt and enforce a new regulation that is more
restrictive than this bill, on and after January 1, 2017.
FISCAL EFFECT: According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, there will be minor nonreimbursable costs to cities
and counties for enforcement, costs will be offset to some
extent by revenues from fines.
COMMENTS: According to the author, "youth sports events should
promote healthy habits for children, but current law doesn't
ensure a healthy, tobacco-free environment for our young
athletes. SB 977 would protect our state's youth and promote
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public health by prohibiting the use of tobacco products within
250 feet of a sporting event. Youth sports should encourage
young people to develop healthy habits that will help them for
the rest of their lives-not expose them to the many health risks
associated with secondhand smoke or encourage them to take up
tobacco products themselves. Secondhand smoke increases the
risk of asthma, lung infection and ear disease, among other
serious health conditions-and children are more sensitive to
these negative health effects. Ninety percent of adult smokers
begin while in their teens, or earlier; and two-thirds become
regular, daily smokers before they reach the age of 19. Studies
have shown that starting to smoke at an early age increases the
number of cigarettes smoked per day in adult life, compounding
the risk of tobacco-related diseases. We have no reason to
promote such dangerous, long-lasting habits at our youth sports
events." The children of the 8th grade class at St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton Catholic School, who brought the bill idea to Senator
Pan, state that, "Children do what they see. Limiting exposure
to all forms of smoking, vaping and e cigarettes will lessen the
chance of their starting. ?A healthy youth ensures the future."
Recent amendments clarify that the bill's provisions only apply
to persons in the same park or facility where the youth sports
events is taking place.
Please see Assembly Arts, Entertainment, Sports, Tourism, and
Internet Media analysis for a full discussion of the measure.
Analysis Prepared by:
Dana Mitchell / A.,E.,S.,T., & I.M. / (916)
319-3450
FN: 0003580
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