BILL NUMBER: SB 330 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to amend Sections 30104, 30108, and 30181 of, and
to add Article 4 (commencing with Section 30135) to Chapter 2 of Part
13 of Division 2 of, the Revenue and Taxation Code, relating to
taxation, making an appropriation therefor, to take effect
immediately, tax levy. add Se ction 22964
to the Business and Professions Code, relating to cigarette and
tobacco products.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 330, as amended, Padilla. Cigarette and tobacco
products taxes: Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Fund.
products: retailers: Tobacco License Query System.
Existing law, the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act, or
STAKE Act, establishes various requirements for retailers relating to
tobacco sales to minors, and allows enforcing agencies to assess
civil penalties against a retailer for violations of the act.
Existing law also establishes criminal penalties against a retailer
that sells, gives, or furnishes tobacco products to a minor under
certain circumstances. Existing law, the Cigarette and Tobacco
Licensing Act of 2003, requires a retailer to obtain a license from
the State Board of Equalization to engage in the sale of tobacco
products in California, and requires the board to take action against
a retailer for specified violations of existing law.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to
develop and maintain the Tobacco License Query System that consists
of a public, electronic database containing information regarding
retailer violations of the STAKE Act and other specified laws
intended to prevent illegal sales of tobacco to minors. This bill
would require the department to make the Tobacco License Query System
available to the public on the department's Internet Web site by
July 1, 2013, and to update the system on a quarterly basis.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.
The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law, the violation of which
is a crime, imposes a tax on every distributor of cigarettes and
tobacco products at specified rates, including additional taxes
imposed under the Tobacco Tax and Health Protection Act of 1988
(Proposition 99) and the California Families and Children Act of 1998
(Proposition 10). A provision of that law imposes a tax upon the
distribution of tobacco products at a tax rate which is equivalent to
the combined rate of all taxes imposed on cigarettes, which is
deposited in specified accounts.
This bill would, commencing on or after the first day of the first
calendar quarter commencing more than 90 days on or after the
effective date of the bill, impose an additional tax on the
distribution of cigarettes at the rate of ($0.075) or 75 mills for
each cigarette distributed which would be reset by the State Board of
Equalization each fiscal year to reflect any increase in the
California Consumer Price Index, and would require a dealer or
wholesaler to file a return with the board showing the number of
cigarettes in his or her possession or under his or her control on
that date, as specified. Because the bill would impose an additional
tax on cigarettes under the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Tax Law,
it would increase the tax upon the distribution of tobacco products
under that law. The bill would provide that the revenues collected
from the additional tax would be allocated, upon appropriation by the
Legislature, for certain purposes. The bill would require funds to
be transferred from the fund to the California Children and Families
First Trust Fund, which is a continuously appropriated fund, the
Hospital Services Account, the Physician Services Account, the
Unallocated Account of the Cigarette and Tobacco Products Surtax
Fund, the Public Resources Account, and the Breast Cancer Fund, as
necessary to offset revenue decreases to those accounts directly
resulting from imposition of additional taxes by these provisions.
Because this bill would require funds to be transferred to a
continuously appropriated fund, it would make an appropriation.
The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement.
This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this
act for a specified reason.
This bill would result in a change in state taxes for the purpose
of increasing state revenues within the meaning of Section 3 of
Article XIII A of the California Constitution, and thus would
require for passage the approval of 2/3 of the membership of each
house of the Legislature.
This bill would take effect immediately as a tax levy.
Vote: 2/3 majority . Appropriation:
yes no . Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: yes.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. The Legislature hereby finds and
declares all of the following:
(a) According to the American Cancer Society, over 80 percent of
adults who are regular smokers started smoking at or before 18 years
of age.
(b) A 2009 survey from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention found that nearly one-half of high school students had
tried cigarette smoking, and more than one in four high school
students were current tobacco users.
(c) Each day in the United States, approximately 3,600 youths
between 12 and 17 years of age initiate cigarette smoking, and an
estimated 1,100 youths become daily cigarette smokers.
(d) Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death and
disease in California. Almost one in six deaths in California is
attributable to smoking: more than 35,000 deaths every year.
(e) In 1992, Congress passed the Synar Amendment to decrease
access to tobacco for minors. The Synar Amendment requires states to
adopt and enforce laws prohibiting any manufacturer, retailer, or
distributor from selling or distributing tobacco products to minors.
(f) In 1994, California adopted the Stop Tobacco Access to Kids
Enforcement (STAKE) Act to meet the requirements of the Synar
Amendment and to decrease underage tobacco usage. The State
Department of Public Health has primary responsibility for enforcing
the STAKE Act.
(g) State and local law enforcement agencies, including, but not
limited to, the Attorney General, the city attorney, the district
attorney, and county counsel, are also authorized to enforce the
STAKE Act.
(h) The Cigarette and Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003 was
passed to further reduce illegal sales of tobacco within the state.
It requires a retailer to obtain a license from the State Board of
Equalization to engage in the sale of cigarette and tobacco products
in California.
(i) In 2009, the President signed the Family Smoking Prevention
and Tobacco Control Act, which gave the United States Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) the authority to regulate the manufacturing,
marketing, and sale of tobacco products. Since its passage, the FDA
has completed 27,500 undercover checks, many that involved sending
minors to stores to buy cigarettes. The undercover operations
resulted in 1,200 warning letters issued to retailers.
SEC. 2. Section 22964 is added to the
Business and Professions Code , to read:
22964. The department shall establish and maintain the Tobacco
License Query System. The Tobacco License Query System shall consist
of an electronic database of all violations attributed to a retailer
of any federal, state, or local law intended to prevent the illegal
sale of tobacco to minors.
(a) The Tobacco License Query System shall include, but not be
limited to, the following information:
(1) All penalties assessed against retailers pursuant to Sections
22958, 22962, and 22963 by any enforcing agency.
(2) All penalties assessed against retailers pursuant to Section
308 of the Penal Code by a city attorney, a county counsel, or a
district attorney.
(3) All penalties assessed against retailers pursuant to Section
22974.8 by the State Board of Equalization.
(b) An enforcing agency shall submit to the department information
regarding all penalties assessed against retailers pursuant to this
division, Section 308 of the Penal Code, the California Cigarette and
Tobacco Products Licensing Act of 2003 (Div. 8.6 (commencing with
Section 22970)), and any other law intended to prevent the illegal
sale of tobacco to minors. The department shall create and provide a
form for enforcing agencies to use to submit the information required
by this section.
(c) The department is encouraged to coordinate with the United
States Food and Drug Administration to include in the Tobacco License
Query System, when possible, information regarding all penalties
assessed against retailers pursuant to the federal Family Smoking
Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (Public Law 111-31), as it is
applied in California.
(d) The department shall make the Tobacco License Query System
easily accessible to the public and to all enforcing agencies on the
department's Internet Web site by July 1, 2013, and update the
Tobacco License Query System on a quarterly basis thereafter.
SEC. 3. If the Commission on State Mandates
determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs
shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of
Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. All matter omitted
in this version of the bill appears in the bill as introduced in the
Senate, February 15, 2011. (JR11)