The legislation, which would bar the sale of menthol cigarettes, fails.
A bill that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes was defeated in the Legislature as a bipartisan budget compromise brokered over the weekend excluded funding for the measure.
The tobacco legislation, which would cost the state about $32 million in lost sales tax revenue if approved, is among about 45 bills lawmakers will took up when they returned to session Wednesday morning.
The Legislature also took votes on 11 vetoes issued by Gov. Janet Mills in recent days, including on a bill that would force the closure of the Long Creek Youth Development Center, the state’s only juvenile prison.
Governor Mills had signaled her support for the tobacco bill last month in a budget proposal that set aside $32 million in surplus revenue to cover the cost of the measure. But the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee cast a unanimous vote Sunday on a budget change package that excludes funding for the bill.
The bill, L.D. 1550, enjoyed bipartisan support at a hearing in May but has since faced opposition from organizations that support small businesses, especially convenience store owners, who derive some of their income from the sale of tobacco products.
Governor Mills’ spokeswoman, Lindsay Crete, said the governor supports the budget deal reached by lawmakers and was unlikely to try to make line-by-line changes to it.
