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Committee backs tougher licensing and testing for specialty vape/tobacco shops, endorses $10,000 license fee
Summary
Lawmakers advanced HB385 after testimony from law enforcement and the Department of Agriculture and Food highlighting illicit products and youth access; the bill creates a new retail tobacco specialty business license, requires product registration and funds testing and enforcement with a proposed $10,000 fee.
The House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee favorably recommended the first substitute to House Bill 385, a package of nicotine‑sales and retail tobacco specialty business (RTSB) reforms that would create a specialized license, require product registration, and increase enforcement resources.
Sponsor testimony framed the measure as a response to years of easy youth access and a regulatory gap in shops selling vaping, cannabinoid and other emerging products. Representative Veil said the bill creates licensing infrastructure and enforcement tools that do not exist under the current $30 tax commission registration. “The new license... create meaningful infrastructure and regulation with real teeth on the RTSB’s,”…
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