Senate committee advances amended House Bill 1440 to clarify cigar-lounge permits, removes pipe tobacco

The North Dakota Senate Finance and Taxation Committee voted 4-2 to give a do-pass recommendation to amended House Bill 1440, which clarifies how cigar lounges are permitted and removes pipe tobacco from the law’s exemption.

Representative Dan Ruby, R‑District 38, told the committee HB 1440 fixes an implementation issue that blocked new cigar lounges from receiving permits. “This change will allow a business to start up their business, operate for their first year, meet that percent. If they don't, they don't get a renewal,” Ruby said, describing the bill as a technical cleanup of last session’s law.

The bill keeps a requirement that cigar lounges derive a set percentage of gross receipts from on‑site cigar (and formerly pipe) sales — a threshold the tax department enforces at renewal — and retains language requiring ventilation and a humidor. The draft had added pipe tobacco to the permitted products; the committee adopted an amendment…