BILL NUMBER: SB 330 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 13, 2012
AMENDED IN SENATE JANUARY 4, 2012
INTRODUCED BY Senator Padilla
FEBRUARY 15, 2011
An act to add Section 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:
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
authorizes 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, , 2014, and to update the
system on a quarterly basis.
By requiring local enforcing agencies to submit information
regarding retailer violations of specified tobacco laws to the
department, this bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
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.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: 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 federal 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 a
city attorney, the a 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 federal 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. (a) 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)
(b) 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.
(3) The business name, address, and telephone number of the
retailer.
(4) The type and amount of penalty assessed, pursuant to this
division, Section 308 of the Penal Code, or any other law intended to
prevent the illegal sale of tobacco to minors.
(5) The number of previous violations.
(6) The date of assessed violations.
(b)
(c) An enforcing agency shall submit to the department
information regarding all penalties assessed against retailers
in adjudicated cases or when the retailer has paid the assessed
penalty, 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)
(d) 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)
(e) 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,
2014, 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.