Appropriations committee advances H321 after fixing tobacco-tax definition drafting error

The House Appropriations Committee voted March 19 to report favorably on H321, a measure that clarifies definitions in the state's tobacco-products tax to ensure recently marketed products, including synthetic nicotine and nicotine analogs, fall under existing taxation.

The change was presented as a technical but important fix by Kirby Keaton, legislative counsel, who said the amendment narrows a drafting error and aligns statute with current Department of Taxes practice. "What we've got is a relatively short amendment that adds a couple of changes to the definitions that are used for other tobacco products or the tobacco products tax," Keaton said. "So these changes to the definitions are about new products that have shown up on the market recently."

Keaton told the committee the Department of Taxes is already collecting tax on many of the products the amendment would…