SECTION 1. The legislature finds that tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of disease, disability, and death in the United States. Tobacco use continues to be a problem in Hawaii, causing approximately 1,400 deaths per year among adults. An estimated 21,000 children in Hawaii currently under the age of eighteen will ultimately die prematurely from smoking. Tobacco use poses a heavy burden on Hawaii's health care system and economy. Each year, smoking costs approximately $526,000,000 in direct health care expenditures and $387,300,000 in lost productivity in the State.

The legislature further finds that tobacco products are addictive and inherently dangerous, causing many different types of cancer, heart disease, and other serious illnesses. Hawaii has a substantial interest in reducing the number of individuals of all ages who use tobacco products, and a particular interest in protecting adolescents from tobacco dependence and the illnesses and premature death associated with tobacco use.

The legislature additionally finds that the United States Food and Drug Administration recently issued a proposed deeming regulation that will eventually bring all tobacco products under its authority. This will include any product containing tobacco, or nicotine derived from tobacco. An amendment to the definition of tobacco products in chapter 245, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is therefore needed to include nicotine derived from tobacco within the definition of tobacco products.

The legislature also finds that taxes on tobacco products should be similar to the tax rates already imposed on cigarettes. Tobacco products other than cigarettes are currently taxed at a lower rate than cigarettes, even though their use carries similar health risks. Research has shown that either a tax on cigarettes or cigarette price increases have the propensity to reduce the rate of smoking by adult and youth smokers. However, the legislature is concerned that as the price of cigarettes increases, smokers may be tempted to purchase less expensive tobacco products, including loose or roll-your-own tobacco.

Finally, the legislature concludes that there should not be a lower-priced tobacco alternative to cigarettes in Hawaii; therefore a similar tax rate for cigarettes and tobacco products that acts as a deterrent for all forms of tobacco use is needed. Higher tobacco product prices will encourage tobacco users to quit, sustain cessation, prevent youth initiation, and reduce consumption among those who continue to use tobacco.

It is the legislature's intent for loose and roll-your-own tobacco to be considered a tobacco product subject to the excise tax under this Act.

The purpose of this Act is to:

(1) Expand the definition of "tobacco products" to include any product containing nicotine, but not containing tobacco;

(2) Impose an excise tax equal to eighty per cent of the wholesale price of any tobacco product, other than large cigars, sold by a wholesaler or dealer on and after January 1, 2016, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(3) Require any subsequent increase in the excise tax rate imposed on cigarettes or little cigars to trigger an automatic excise tax increase on other tobacco products; and

(4) Require the additional moneys collected under the excise tax to be deposited to the credit of the Hawaii cancer research special fund.

SECTION 2. Section 245-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "tobacco products" to read as follows:

""Tobacco products" means [~~tobacco~~]:

(1) Tobacco in any form, other than cigarettes or little cigars, that is prepared or intended for consumption or for personal use by humans, including large cigars and any substitutes thereof other than cigarettes that bear the semblance thereof, snuff, chewing or smokeless tobacco, and smoking or pipe tobacco[.]; or

(2) Any product containing nicotine, but not containing tobacco, that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, smoked, absorbed, dissolved, inhaled, snorted, sniffed, or ingested by any other means.

"Tobacco product" does not include any product specifically approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for legal sale as a tobacco cessation product that is being marketed and sold solely for that approved purpose."

SECTION 3. Section 245-3, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) Every wholesaler or dealer, in addition to any other taxes provided by law, shall pay for the privilege of conducting business and other activities in the State:

(1) An excise tax equal to 5.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 1998, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(2) An excise tax equal to 6.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after September 30, 2002, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(3) An excise tax equal to 6.50 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 2003, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(4) An excise tax equal to 7.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer after June 30, 2004, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(5) An excise tax equal to 8.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2006, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(6) An excise tax equal to 9.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2007, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(7) An excise tax equal to 10.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2008, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(8) An excise tax equal to 13.00 cents for each cigarette sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(9) An excise tax equal to 11.00 cents for each little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after October 1, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(10) An excise tax equal to 15.00 cents for each cigarette or little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2010, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(11) An excise tax equal to 16.00 cents for each cigarette or little cigar sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after July 1, 2011, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer;

(12) An excise tax equal to seventy per cent of the wholesale price of each article or item of tobacco products, other than large cigars, sold by the wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer; [~~and~~]

(13) An excise tax equal to eighty per cent of the wholesale price of each article or item of tobacco products, other than large cigars, sold by a wholesaler or dealer on and after January 1, 2016, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer; provided that if the excise tax rate of 16.00 cents for each cigarette or little cigar pursuant to paragraph (11) increases on or after January 1, 2016, the excise tax rate equal to eighty per cent of the wholesale price for each article or item of tobacco products, other than large cigars, pursuant to this paragraph shall automatically increase by the same percentage in the increase of the excise tax rate per cigarette or little cigar pursuant to paragraph (11); and

[~~(13)~~] (14) An excise tax equal to fifty per cent of the wholesale price of each large cigar of any length, sold, used, or possessed by a wholesaler or dealer on and after September 30, 2009, whether or not sold at wholesale, or if not sold then at the same rate upon the use by the wholesaler or dealer.

Where the tax imposed has been paid on cigarettes, little cigars, or tobacco products that thereafter become the subject of a casualty loss deduction allowable under chapter 235, the tax paid shall be refunded or credited to the account of the wholesaler or dealer. The tax shall be applied to cigarettes through the use of stamps."

SECTION 4. Section 245-15, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§245-15 Disposition of revenues. All moneys collected pursuant to this chapter shall be paid into the state treasury as state realizations to be kept and accounted for as provided by law; provided that, of the moneys collected under the tax imposed pursuant to:

(1) Section 245-3(a)(5), after September 30, 2006, and prior to October 1, 2007, 1.0 cent per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the Hawaii cancer research special fund, established pursuant to section 304A-2168, for research and operating expenses and for capital expenditures;

(2) Section 245-3(a)(6), after September 30, 2007, and prior to October 1, 2008:

(A) 1.5 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the Hawaii cancer research special fund, established pursuant to section 304A-2168, for research and operating expenses and for capital expenditures;

(B) 0.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the trauma system special fund established pursuant to section 321-22.5; and

(C) 0.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the emergency medical services special fund established pursuant to section 321-234;

(3) Section 245-3(a)(7), after September 30, 2008, and prior to July 1, 2009:

(A) 2.0 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the Hawaii cancer research special fund, established pursuant to section 304A-2168, for research and operating expenses and for capital expenditures;

(B) 0.5 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the trauma system special fund established pursuant to section 321-22.5;

(C) 0.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the community health centers special fund established pursuant to section 321-1.65; and

(D) 0.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the emergency medical services special fund established pursuant to section 321-234;

(4) Section 245-3(a)(8), after June 30, 2009, and prior to July 1, 2013:

(B) 0.75 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the trauma system special fund established pursuant to section 321-22.5;

(C) 0.75 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the community health centers special fund established pursuant to section 321-1.65; and

(D) 0.5 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the emergency medical services special fund established pursuant to section 321-234; [~~and~~]

(5) Section 245-3(a)(11), after June 30, 2013, and thereafter:

(B) 1.5 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the trauma system special fund established pursuant to section 321-22.5;

(C) 1.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the community health centers special fund established pursuant to section 321-1.65; and

(D) 1.25 cents per cigarette shall be deposited to the credit of the emergency medical services special fund established pursuant to section 321-234[.]; and

(6) Section 245-3(a)(13), after December 31, 2015, and thereafter, all amounts shall be deposited to the credit of the Hawaii cancer research special fund, established pursuant to section 304A-2168, for research and operating expenses and for capital expenditures.

The department shall provide an annual accounting of these dispositions to the legislature."

SECTION 5. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 6. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2015.

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	1220
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2015		S.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII