Bergeson Fumes After Lobbyist Tries to Snuff Anti-Tobacco Bill

A lobbyist’s ploy has failed to stop a bill that would ban public giveaways of tobacco products in an attempt to keep children from smoking.

The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 7 to 3 Wednesday to send the measure to the Senate floor, ending an odyssey triggered by a tobacco industry lobbyist’s query to a state tax board.

The bill, SB1100 by Sen. Marian Bergeson (R-Newport Beach), would bar giveaways of tobacco products on public property, including public buildings, parks, playgrounds, sidewalks and streets.

Violations could bring fines of at least $200 for one act, $500 for two acts and $1,000 for three or more.

Bill supporters say minors are able to get cigarettes and other tobacco products through the giveaways, even though it’s illegal to sell or give tobacco to minors.

The bill originally reached the full Senate on May 20.

But it was referred to the Appropriations Committee after a lobbyist for the California Assn. of Tobacco and Candy Distributors asked the Board of Equalization how much in excise taxes cigarette manufacturers paid last year to cover the giveaways.

The board wrote back that the manufacturers had paid nearly $1.7 million. The lobbyist then showed the letter to Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert Presley (D-Riverside), suggesting that passage of Bergeson’s bill would cost the state tax revenues, a Bergeson aide said.

Presley asked to have the bill referred to his committee for review of its fiscal impact. Bergeson said the lobbyist’s action was a “blatant” attempt to kill the bill by playing on the state’s budget woes.

The lobbyist did not return telephone calls to the Associated Press Wednesday.

However, an analysis done for the committee concluded that the bill would result in a “very minor general fund revenue gain” because most samples that would have been given away would be sold, generating sales taxes.

Bergeson said the bill has a “good chance” of reaching the governor’s desk but only after surviving more opposition in the Assembly.

“I think we can get it off the floor,” she said in an interview. “Obviously there will be a massive effort on the part of the tobacco industry to kill it in the Assembly. But I think I’ve got a good chance to get it to the governor.

The bill is one of the few anti-smoking measures that is moving this session, and its supporters have made sure reporters were aware of industry efforts to kill it.

The California Medical Assn., one of the bill’s backers, distributed press releases before Wednesday’s vote. Taped to each release was a pack of startling “Death” cigarettes, a black pack decorated with a skull and crossbones.