Politics
Heat-not-burn legislation is getting hot in Tallahassee
When Floridians hear about less harmful alternatives to smoking cigarettes, they most often think of vaping, which has garnered criticism due to some industry players’ efforts to seemingly market to children fruity flavors reminiscent of various candies.
But another alternative is beginning to gain traction in the U.S., and efforts to make it available and regulated in Florida are underway. Heat-not-burn, or heated tobacco products (HTPs), use real tobacco. But instead of lighting a cigarette with fire and burning the tobacco as it is inhaled, these products heat the tobacco, creating an aerosol mist.
Sen. Nick DiCeglie and Rep. Chase Tramont are sponsoring legislation (SB 1418, HB 785) that would exclude HTPs from the definition of “cigarette” and include HTPs in the definition of “tobacco products,” setting up a taxing structure different from that of traditional cigarettes.
The Senate version would additionally amend the definition of “tobacco product” in state statute to include HTPs and would remove HTPs from statute taxing other tobacco products.
Both measures have easily cleared their first committees and await two more stops before heading to full chamber votes.
During both hearings — Ways and Means for the House bill and Regulated Industries for the Senate version — every speaker present either spoke or waved in support. Only one member, Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani, voted “no.” Eskamani said she wanted additional information during the hearing earlier this month.
While HTPs still contain nicotine and still present possible risks, they are a less harmful alternative to traditional tobacco products, according to various reports on the issue. Dominic Calabro, President and CEO of Florida TaxWatch, recently penned an op-ed in this publication noting the harms of cigarettes — more than 32,000 Floridians die from smoking each year — and pointing to HTPs as a less harmful and less expensive option.
With the cost of health care from smoking-related illness estimated at more than $10 billion annually in Florida alone, Florida TaxWatch is advocating for incentives to move smokers away from cigarettes and, if they can’t or won’t quit, toward less harmful products. The group is supporting a “different tax treatment” for HTPs that would make them more affordable than cigarettes, which are taxed at about $1.33 per pack.
Doug Wheeler of the James Madison Institute has also spoken in support of the legislation, referencing a publication from his group advocating for keeping alternative tobacco products, like HTPs, tax-free.
“Harm reduction is a crucial aspect of sound tobacco and nicotine tax design,” the journal article reads. “Rather than trying to preclude the negative health outcomes associated with certain behaviors via prohibition or excessive taxation, those health outcomes can instead be more practically improved by incentivizing consumption of less harmful alternatives.”
The article points to an example in Minnesota where the state hiked the tax on vaping products from 35% to 95%, leading to more than 32,000 people not quitting traditional cigarettes.
The article lists a variety of alternative tobacco products and assigns each to a taxation category. HTPs fall in the group’s second category, calling for a tax rate at 25% that of combustible cigarettes. Other products — vaporizers and oral tobacco — are placed in category 3 at 10% of the tax rate for cigarettes. Patches, gums and lozenges — products typically used for smoking cessation — are in the fourth category, calling for no tax.
“This is important because it is the toxic smoke from cigarettes that is most responsible for smoking related diseases like emphysema and cancer,” DiCeglie said of the effort during a Senate hearing earlier this month. “Under this bill, members of the Legislature would be creating an accurate definition for heated tobacco products that distinguish them from cigarettes.”
And nodding to support from the Florida Retail Federation, DiCeglie also called for market clarity.
“The bill would simply update Florida code to make explicit what is already implicit, that the current definitions that carry excise taxes do not include HTPs,” he said.
The conversation is heating up now that HTPs are becoming available in the U.S. While some popular brands such as Ploom are still unavailable here, others are now being offered.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently authorized Philip Morris International’s IQOS products in flavors mimicking those of existing cigarette flavors. The FDA is reviewing an R.J. Reynolds product called Eclipse, and it is expected to come to market soon. Altria is also taking steps to commercialize HTPs.
DiCeglie’s bill is awaiting hearings in the Finance and Tax and Appropriations committees, while Tramont’s is awaiting the Industries and Professional Activities Subcommittee and the Commerce Committee.
Politics
Senate Appropriations Committee passes bill to survey seniors about nursing home conditions
The Senate Appropriations Committee has OK’d a bill that could give lawmakers new insight into how seniors feel at nursing homes in order to better protect them.
“This bill strengthens the voice of our nursing home residents and their family members to ensure they can age with the dignity and care they deserve,” said Senate President Ben Albritton in a statement.
If SB 170 passes this Session, the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) would create biennial customer satisfaction surveys for residents and their families at nursing homes. The survey would be available at all facilities, including ones operated by nonprofits and for-profit companies, for short-term and long-term residents.
Nursing home employees would be prohibited from trying to influence the responses, although seniors’ families could help them complete the surveys, the bill outlines.
“The beauty of this survey is we will be able to use it in a multitude of ways,” said Sen. Colleen Burton, a Lakeland Republican, during Wednesday’s hearing.
Lawmakers would be able to understand if the state’s programs are improving seniors’ quality of care and plan to study how Florida compares to other states, Burton said.
The survey results will also be available to the public in the AHCA Nursing Home Guide website.
“Following the survey results, nursing homes must develop and submit an internal action plan for improvement to AHCA. This feedback is essential to help Florida families make a clear and informed decision when selecting a nursing home,” the Senate press release said.
Staff analysis of the bill warned about costs ahead. “AHCA estimates a cost of $356,500 to implement the Nursing Home Patient Satisfaction Survey and the Nursing Home Patient Safety Culture Survey required in this bill,” the staff report said.
“The agency will also require $140,500 annually to maintain, enhance, and secure endorsements for these surveys. The comprehensive study of nursing home quality incentive plans will require an estimated $1.5 million to complete.”
What could help lower the state’s cost are new $10,000 fines the bill is proposing on nursing homes that refuse to submit audited financial information to the state as required by law.
The bill also includes a provision to require nursing home medical directors to obtain an American Medical Directors Association certification or hold a similar credential approved by AHCA.
“Floridians should feel confident when selecting a nursing home for themselves or a loved one. This legislation will elevate the quality of care and safety standards of nursing home facilities statewide,” Burton said in a statement.
“Enhanced transparency and feedback from nursing home residents and their family members will better inform Floridians and safeguard the quality of care for seniors and individuals with disabilities.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried says overperformance by candidates in two congressional districts could bring Democrats long-term benefits.
“We put a down payment on our future,” Fried said, “and we’re going to make Republicans pay for it in the long run.”
Democratic candidates spent upward of $17 million in Special Elections in Florida’s 1st and 6th Congressional Districts. In the Panhandle, Gay Valimont lost to Republican Jimmy Patronis, while in Northeast Florida, Josh Weil fell to Republican Randy Fine.
In both cases, the Republicans won by about 14 percentage points in districts where President Donald Trump in November won by more than 30 points.
In that sense, Fried didn’t consider either campaign a loss. Fried the next day participated in a Democratic National Committee (DNC) press call with DNC Chair Ken Martin to tout the overperformance.
Seeing President Donald Trump hold telerallies for both candidates showed Florida Democrats can still get national Republicans’ attention, she said.
“These races should have never been competitive, but we outworked them, we outraised them, and we slashed their margins by more than half, and they panicked,” Fried said. “They had to call daddy, hosting emergency town halls, slashing last minute cash and even sacrificing (New York U.S. Rep. Elise) Stefanik’s nomination to protect their very slim majority.”
Martin, while touting the victory of a Liberal Wisconsin Supreme Court justice over a conservative publicly championed by billionaire Elon Musk, also saw good things from the election results in Florida.
“Last night’s Special Elections in Florida showed Trump, Musk and Republicans that they’re in trouble in even the reddest of districts,” Martin said.
“Democrat Gay Valimont claimed the best performance from a Democrat in Florida’s 1st Congressional District this century, and became the first Democrat in almost two decades to flip Pensacola. In Florida’s 6th, Democrat Josh Weil secured a massive overperformance in this Trump plus-30 district and validated Republicans’ widely covered concerns about Republican candidate Randy Fine.”
Fried also said the Democratic campaigns spent their money wisely, focusing on ground game over flashy marketing.
“These races came down to the wire because we invested in them, put money into strong ground game and organized in red counties like never before,” Fried said. “Investment on the ground matters. Money spent in Specials was largely on the ground, not TV, and campaigns left behind cash to local county parties to continue that work. So don’t tell me, ‘Florida, it’s too expensive.’ We have proven that we can raise the money and spend it wisely.”
Fried also said Democrats in off-year and unscheduled races can make an important difference in providing balance in state elections.
“Here in Florida Special Elections, we flipped a really important House seat last year in the beginning part of ’24. It allowed us to take back School Board races in the August Primaries, to re-elect our Mayor down in Miami-Dade County. These elections are important for infrastructure and build our momentum.”
That 2024 Special Election was a win by Democrat Tom Keen in House District 35, but Keen lost the seat in November to Republican Erika Booth.
Fried said this year’s Special Elections will lay the groundwork for strong performance in the Midterms next year.
“People are coming out of their homes, wanting to be part of this revival of the Democratic Party and this retaking back of our state,” she said. “These important elections are a message test. It is an opportunity to organize, to galvanize our base, but also to make sure that we are creating this momentum going into the ‘26 actual elections year,” she said.
In the same way Floridians flocked to the polls for Donald Trump, they have flocked to the health care marketplace, seeking affordable health care coverage for themselves and their families.
In fact, new data reveals that Florida participation in the health care marketplace has multiplied by 2.5 in just five years.
In 2020, there were 1.9 million Floridians on the exchange. That’s just a fraction of the 4.7 million residents across the Sunshine State enrolled today.
KFF News reported this week that enrollment has grown significantly more in states that favored Trump last election than in states that voted for his opponent.
“On average, states that voted for President Trump have seen Marketplace enrollment grow by 157% while states that voted for former Vice President (Kamala) Harris saw a 36% increase in Marketplace enrollment,” according to the report. Florida was one of the top 15 for growth.
Yet, the 4.7 million Floridians who rely on the marketplace may lose their enhanced tax credits if Congress does not act.
The enhanced tax credits have increased the affordability of coverage for middle income Americans. They are set to expire at the end of this year, and premiums will skyrocket for those on the exchange.
If Congress does not renew the tax credits, a 60-year-old couple in Florida earning $82,000 a year will be forced to pay $13,000 more for their health care coverage. A family of four in Florida earning $129,000 per year will face an increase of $4,500 on their annual premiums.
Hispanics would be among the hardest hit if the tax credits were to expire.
Julio Fuentes, President of the Florida Hispanic Chamber of Commerce warned in an op-ed this week that “inaction would devastate Hispanic small business owners, their employees, and millions of other Floridians who depend on these tax credits.”
Fuentes urged Congress to “work together to extend these tax credits and keep health coverage within reach for working families.”
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