The Senate’s Health and Human Services Committee voted in favor of legislation increasing the age to buy or use tobacco products from 18 to 21.  Senator Greg McCortney, chair of the committee, is the author of Senate Bill 1423. 

In December, President Donald Trump signed the Tobacco-Free Youth Act into law, prohibiting the sale of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products to anyone under the age of 21.  McCortney, R-Ada, said SB 1423 brings Oklahoma into line with that federal change.

“Even though the federal law has changed, we still needed to follow through in the Legislature, because enforcement takes place at the state and local level,” McCortney said.  “This change will help avoid confusion or ambiguity and ensure clarity for the public, businesses, state agencies and law enforcement.”

Currently, state law sets a minimum age of 18 for tobacco sales and use.  Under SB 1423, the minimum age would be raised to 21 for purchasing or using tobacco products, and it would be illegal to sell or give tobacco products to anyone younger than 21.

McCortney said the change would also help improve Oklahoma’s health outcomes.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 90 percent of adult cigarette smokers report they first tried smoking before the age of 18.

“Tobacco use remains the leading cause of preventable disease disability and death in this country.  Raising the age limit for tobacco products has long been promoted as a way of reducing tobacco use, so this change will help us with our goal to improve public health in our state,” McCortney said.

House Bill 3532, the Modernization of Tobacco Collections, authored by State Rep. Dustin Roberts (R-Durant), passed out of the House Appropriations & Budget Subcommittee on General Government by a vote of 7-0 on Monday. The bill now can be considered by the full House A&B Committee.

“This bill cleans up language in statute and makes it much clearer the responsibilities of retailers and wholesalers as far as who pays and how taxes are to be remitted to the state of Oklahoma,” Roberts said.

HB 3532 deletes numerous unused terms in statute, defines the term “untaxed,” removes the requirement to have tax stamps on other tobacco products such as smokeless tobacco, sets up who and how taxes are paid to the state, establishes that wholesalers are to have an Oklahoma license and that retailers must purchase from an Oklahoma licensed wholesaler, and  establishes penalties for not doing so.

“This bill is trying to address retailers who go out of state and purchases tobacco products that do not have tax stamps on them and bring them back into the state for resale without paying Oklahoma taxes,” Roberts said. “This could be millions of dollars the state is missing out on.”

HB 3532 clarifies that it is the wholesaler who is responsible for the payment of excise tax through monthly tobacco products tax reporting procedures established by the Oklahoma Tax Commission (OTC).

The measure also increases the monetary cap of numerous fines, fees and penalties administered by the commission and removes the requirement that retailers or consumers purchasing tobacco products in drop shipments file monthly reports with the OTC.

Lastly, the measure requires retailers to only buy and sell tobacco products from an OTC-listed Oklahoma-licensed tobacco wholesaler or face an increased penalty of $1,000 or five times the unpaid taxes on such products for a first offense. A second offense is punishable by revocation of the retailer’s license.