BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1278
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Date of Hearing: May 6, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION
Adam Gray, Chair
AB 1278
Gray - As Introduced February 27, 2015
SUBJECT: Cigarettes and tobacco products: identification
requirements.
SUMMARY: Clarifies that if a military identification card lacks
a physical description, but includes date of birth and a photo,
further proof of majority is not required for the purposes of
selling or distributing of tobacco products directly to a
consumer in the state through the United State Postal Service
(USPS) or package delivery service.
EXISTING LAW:
1) Prohibits the sale, distribution, or nonsale distribution of
tobacco products directly or indirectly to any person under 18
years of age.
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2) Requires a person selling or distributing, or engaging in the
nonsale distribution of, tobacco products directly to a consumer
in the state through the United States Postal Service or package
delivery service to verify that the purchaser or recipient of
the product is 18 years of age or older.
3) Specifies that if the seller, distributor, or nonsale
distributor is unable to verify that the purchaser or recipient
is 18 years of age or older, he or she is required to require
the purchaser or recipient to submit an age-verification kit,
which includes a copy of a valid form of government
identification, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT: This bill is keyed non-fiscal by Legislative
Counsel.
COMMENTS:
Purpose of the bill : This bill would clarify that military men
and women of age are able to use their military issued ID to
receive or send tobacco products through the USPS or other
package delivery service. For many of these individuals their
military IDs are the only type of identification they have in
their possession and this measure would simply give our military
men and women the same rights we provide for our civilization
population.
This would only apply to those tobacco products that can legally
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be sent through USPS and other delivery service systems as
mandated by the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking Act.
Background : When an individual purchases tobacco products
through the USPS or through any other public or private postal
or package delivery service, the distributor or seller is
required to verify that that individual is 18 years or older.
This is done through the seller or the distributor attempting to
match the name, address, and date of birth provided by the
customer to information contained in appropriate database of
government records. These databases are required by federal
law.
If the distributor or seller is unable to verify that the
purchaser or recipient is 18 years of age or older, they are
required to have the customer or recipient to submit an
age-verification kit consisting of an attestation signed by the
customer or recipient that he/she is 18 years of age or older
and a copy of a valid form of government identification.
While valid forms of governmental identification include
military identification, military cards issued by the Armed
forces, since 2000, do not contain height, weight, hair color,
and eye color. For security purposes, that information is now
electronically encrypted in order to avoid tampering with the
card.
Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act : The 2010 Prevent
All Cigarette Trafficking Act severely restricted the use of the
U.S. Postal Service to deliver cigarettes, roll-your-own tobacco
and smokeless tobacco. These tobacco products can no longer be
delivered via U.S. Mail for consumer purchases, and mail
deliveries are generally limited to deliveries between
businesses with all applicable licenses for tobacco sales. Pipe
tobacco and Cigars are not subject to the PACT.
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Tobacco companies may still deliver cigarettes, roll-your-own
and smokeless tobacco to consumers, subject to the PACT's other
restrictions, via other delivery methods. However, the major
delivery services have all voluntary agreed not to deliver these
tobacco products to consumers.
Prior legislation : AB 59 (Jeffries), Chapter 405, Statutes of
2009. Provided that, if a military identification card lacks a
physical description, further proof of majority shall not be
required to purchase or consume any alcoholic beverage, as
specified.
AB 764 (Calderon), Chapter 68, Statutes of 2005. Established a
specified process where in the event an ID card issued to a
member of the Armed Forces is provided as proof of age 21 when
purchasing alcohol beverages, and the ID lacks a physical
description, then proof of being age 21 may be further
substantiated if a motor vehicle operator's license or other
valid bona fide identification issued by any government
jurisdiction is also provided as specified.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
None on file
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Opposition
None on file
Analysis Prepared by:Eric Johnson / G.O. / (916) 319-2531