Measures to give Hawaiʻi counties control over tobacco sales live on during the legislative session.
House Bill 1778 is moving forward to repeal a 2018 state preemption law that nullifies county rules on tobacco sales. The bill states that counties are better equipped to curb smoking and vaping.
The measure originally wanted to ban flavored tobacco statewide, but the House Committee on Health and Homelessness removed that language from the bill.
Committee Chair Della Au Belatti said the counties are already tackling flavored tobacco in their own jurisdictions.
“The counties of Hawaiʻi Island and the City and County of Honolulu have, in their wisdom, already having engaged with community members in their community passed these laws that actually would impose flavor bans,” she said.
Those counties have passed so-called “trigger bans” that would go into effect once the state law, known as Act 206, is repealed or suspended.
HB 1778 would strike out language in the state law that would make county tobacco laws “null and void.”
It adds that vaping has continued to grow since the state took over control of tobacco sales, especially among Hawaiʻi’s youth.
The committee killed another bill, House Bill 1563, dedicated to repealing Act 206, but Belatti noted another set of similar bills are still alive. They are supported by the Hawaiʻi State Association of Counties, which is represented by the counties’ lawmakers.
