Politics
HB 785 seeks much-needed clarity for heated tobacco products
Lawmakers in Tallahassee are considering legislation that would provide much-needed regulatory clarity for local convenience stores and retailers.
If passed, House Bill 785 – sponsored by Rep. Chase Tramont – would designate heated tobacco products (HTPs) as a distinct category from traditional cigarettes. This legislation is needed and would proactively address this important issue.
Too often, policymakers are reacting once the marketplace is overrun by unlawful, unregulated products.
Lawmakers spent much of the 2024 Legislative Session focused on trying to clean up the vapor category which has become swamped with illegal Chinese vapes. The state should not drag its feet and proactively provide clarity in the heat-not-burn category.
Heat-not-burn products have become increasingly popular around the globe in recent years, and as HTPs make their way to the U.S. market, they are likely to be an in-demand product for consumers in Florida. That’s why convenience stores and other retailers need more clarity as HTPs and a range of new, innovative, smoke-free tobacco products enter the marketplace.
Under existing Florida statute, HTPs are not categorized as cigarettes or “Other Tobacco Products” (OTPs), which makes sense considering they are neither.
HB 785 would clarify the definition of this emergent product category and explicitly reaffirm what is already implicit in this statute: that HTPs do not fit the definition of cigarettes and should, therefore, not be taxed at the same rate as cigarettes.
Not only would passing this legislation help provide much-needed regulatory certainty for retailers, consumers, and manufacturers, but it would also help increase the financial incentives for adult consumers to choose less harmful, smoke-free products, such as HTPs at convenience stores or wherever they get their tobacco and nicotine products.
Like vapor and other nicotine products, HTPs must undergo a comprehensive review by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before being authorized for retailers to sell.
Backed by extensive research, the FDA and scientists consider some of these products less harmful than traditional cigarettes. By heating a much smaller amount of tobacco to just below the point of combustion, HTPs do not deliver the mix of chemicals in cigarette smoke that leads to health risks, such as lung cancer and thus are desirable alternatives to some existing smokers that are struggling to kick their habit.
Taxing HTPs and other innovative, smoke-free tobacco products at a lower rate would provide people with the extra boost they need to make less harmful decisions at the checkout line.
As the voice of Florida’s petroleum marketing and convenience store industries, the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association is asking lawmakers in the Florida Legislature to help advance and pass HB 785 as swiftly as possible.
Doing so would help support a more stable marketplace that promotes innovation and consumer choice, as well as healthier communities throughout the Sunshine State.
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Ned Bowman is CEO of the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association.
Deegan predicts lawsuits are coming once the bill becomes law.
Jacksonville’s Democratic Mayor Donna Deegan is taking a position on the “Jacksonville Illegal Immigration Enforcement Act.”
She won’t veto it. She won’t sign it. She will denounce it.
“I want to be crystal clear. I do not believe this bill is necessary. And I will not sign it. It will become law without signature,” Deegan said.
During a press conference at City Hall, Deegan said immigrants were part of the “beautiful mosaic” of Jacksonville, and that they are “welcome” in the city.
She noted that the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office (JSO) would get the 25 fingerprint scanners it asked for in the bill, but that the punitive measures making immigration a “local crime” are redundant given state and federal law. She also noted that JSO has had an agreement with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement since 2008, referring to the cooperative 287(g) deals.
She also said the bill “puts Jacksonville in a lane where it doesn’t belong” and would prompt “an expensive lawsuit.”
She won’t veto it though, saying it would sacrifice “all we have left to do over a bill that does not change anything.”
Deegan’s position comes after Republicans in Tallahassee warned her not to veto it.
Republican Attorney General James Uthmeier said “if a city official takes action to impede or prevent law enforcement from undergoing the necessary training and participating with the feds to get these people back where they came from, then I do believe the law is violated and that there will be penalties for that.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis also wanted the bill to become law.
“Great job to the City of Jacksonville in following Florida law and empowering their law enforcement to assist in the enforcement of laws against illegal immigration. I am pleased to see this follow from our work in the special session I called in January to insist that all state and local entities participate in immigration enforcement,” he posted to social media Wednesday.
The Senate Fiscal Policy Committee has cleared a measure (SB 608) to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, which would align the name with President Donald Trump’s executive order doing the same.
Already, Google Maps and Apple Maps have reflected the name change for U.S. users, while users in other countries see both names
“By renaming the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America, we are putting America first and honoring American greatness,” said Sen. Nick DiCeglie, the bill’s sponsor. “In communities up and down Florida’s Gulf Coast, we are incredibly prideful to say that we live in a paradise along the coast of the Gulf of America.”
The bill would change 92 statutory references in Florida law to refer to the body of water along Florida’s west coast as the Gulf of America. It cleared its first committee stop, Community Affairs, in mid-March.
An identical House version (HB 575) from Rep. Tyler Sirois is on the House special order calendar for Thursday after clearing two committees.
The legislation would comply with Trump’s Executive Order 14172, called “Restoring Names that Honor American Greatness.”
Trump ordered the federal government to “take all appropriate actions to rename as the ‘Gulf of America’ the U.S. Continental Shelf area bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the State of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida and extending to the seaward boundary with Mexico and Cuba in the area formerly named as the Gulf of Mexico.”
DiCeglie’s bill references the President’s directive, which says the move recognizes the “importance of the body of water to the United States.” Senate leadership is on board.
“American exceptionalism matters, and it’s important that we recognize the fact that America is the greatest country in the history of the world,” Senate President Ben Albritton said. “As patriots, we have a duty to honor our country’s greatness, and I am so thankful that President Trump has highlighted what is a fantastic opportunity to do just that and recognize the Gulf of America.”
Gov. Ron DeSantis already pushed the new name in an executive order (EO 25-13) as last month’s Winter storm approached the state.
The name change became official nationally in early February as Trump declared Feb. 9 “Gulf of America Day.”
If passed, the changes to Florida law would take effect July 1.
Sen. Joe Gruters is carrying a bill (SB 1058) in the upper chamber that would implement the name change in Florida public schools, requiring School Boards to “adopt and acquire” materials using the new name to “honor American greatness.”
It is awaiting second reading in the Senate.
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