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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 399
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 2219
Referred to Committee on APPROPRIATIONS
Introduced by:
(APP)
AN ACT CONCERNING THE TOBACCO SETTLEMENT TRUST FUND
AND THE SALE OF TOBACCO PRODUCTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (c) of section 4-28e of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2
2022): 3
(c) For the fiscal year ending June 30, [2018] 2023, and each fiscal year 4
thereafter, disbursements from the Tobacco Settlement Fund shall be 5
made [to] as follows: (1) To the General Fund (A) in the amount 6
identified as "Transfer from Tobacco Settlement Fund" in the General 7
Fund revenue schedule adopted by the General Assembly, and (B) in an 8
amount equal to four million dollars, and (2) any remainder to the 9
Tobacco and Health Trust Fund. 10
Sec. 2. Section 4-28f of the general statutes is repealed and the 11
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 12
(a) There is created a Tobacco and Health Trust Fund which shall be 13
a separate nonlapsing fund. The purpose of the trust fund shall be to 14 Raised Bill No. 399
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create a continuing significant source of funds to (1) support and 15
encourage development of programs to reduce tobacco abuse through 16
prevention, education and cessation programs, (2) support and 17
encourage development of programs to reduce substance abuse, and (3) 18
develop and implement programs to meet the unmet physical and 19
mental health needs in the state. 20
(b) The trust fund may accept transfers from the Tobacco Settlement 21
Fund and may apply for and accept gifts, grants or donations from 22
public or private sources to enable the trust fund to carry out its 23
objectives. 24
(c) The trust fund shall be administered by a board of trustees, except 25
that the board shall suspend its operations from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 26
2005, inclusive. The board shall, consist of seventeen trustees. The 27
appointment of the initial trustees shall be as follows: (1) The Governor 28
shall appoint four trustees, one of whom shall serve for a term of one 29
year from July 1, 2000, two of whom shall serve for a term of two years 30
from July 1, 2000, and one of whom shall serve for a term of three years 31
from July 1, 2000; (2) the speaker of the House of Representatives and 32
the president pro tempore of the Senate each shall appoint two trustees, 33
one of whom shall serve for a term of two years from July 1, 2000, and 34
one of whom shall serve for a term of three years from July 1, 2000; (3) 35
the majority leader of the House of Representatives and the majority 36
leader of the Senate each shall appoint two trustees, one of whom shall 37
serve for a term of one year from July 1, 2000, and one of whom shall 38
serve for a term of three years from July 1, 2000; (4) the minority leader 39
of the House of Representatives and the minority leader of the Senate 40
each shall appoint two trustees, one of whom shall serve for a term of 41
one year from July 1, 2000, and one of whom shall serve for a term of 42
two years from July 1, 2000; and (5) the Secretary of the Office of Policy 43
and Management, or the secretary's designee, shall serve as an ex-officio 44
voting member. Following the expiration of such initial terms, 45
subsequent trustees shall serve for a term of three years. The period of 46
suspension of the board's operations from July 1, 2003, to June 30, 2005, 47
inclusive, shall not be included in the term of any trustee serving on July 48 Raised Bill No. 399
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1, 2003. 49
The trustees shall serve without compensation except for 50
reimbursement for necessary expenses incurred in performing their 51
duties. The board of trustees shall establish rules of procedure for the 52
conduct of its business which shall include, but not be limited to, 53
criteria, processes and procedures to be used in selecting programs to 54
receive money from the trust fund. The trust fund shall be within the 55
Office of Policy and Management for administrative purposes only. The 56
board of trustees shall, not later than January first of each year [, except 57
following a fiscal year in which the trust fund does not receive a deposit 58
from the Tobacco Settlement Fund, shall] submit a report of its activities 59
and accomplishments to the joint standing committees of the General 60
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health and 61
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, in accordance with 62
section 11-4a. 63
(d) (1) [During the period commencing July 1, 2000, and ending June 64
30, 2003, the board of trustees, by majority vote, may recommend 65
authorization of disbursement from the trust fund for the purposes 66
described in subsection (a) of this section and section 19a-6d, provided 67
the board may not recommend authorization of disbursement of more 68
than fifty per cent of net earnings from the principal of the trust fund for 69
such purposes. For the fiscal year commencing July 1, 2005, and each 70
fiscal year thereafter, the board may recommend authorization of the 71
net earnings from the principal of the trust fund for such purposes. For 72
the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, and each fiscal year thereafter, the 73
board may recommend authorization of disbursement for such 74
purposes of (A) up to one-half of the annual disbursement from the 75
Tobacco Settlement Fund to the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund from 76
the previous fiscal year, pursuant to section 4-28e, up to a maximum of 77
six million dollars per fiscal year, and (B) the net earnings from the 78
principal of the trust fund from the previous fiscal year.] For the fiscal 79
year ending June 30, [2014] 2023, and each fiscal year thereafter, the 80
board of trustees, by majority vote, may recommend authorization of 81
disbursement [of up to the total unobligated balance remaining in the 82 Raised Bill No. 399
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trust fund after disbursement in accordance with the provisions of the 83
general statutes and relevant special and public acts for such purposes, 84
not to exceed] from the trust fund for the purposes described in 85
subsection (a) of this section and section 19a-6d, provided the board 86
may not recommend authorization of disbursement of more than twelve 87
million dollars per fiscal year from the trust fund for such purposes. The 88
board's recommendations shall give (i) priority to programs that 89
address tobacco and substance abuse and serve minors, pregnant 90
women and parents of young children, and (ii) consideration to the 91
availability of private matching funds. Recommended disbursements 92
from the trust fund shall be in addition to any resources that would 93
otherwise be appropriated by the state for such purposes and programs. 94
(2) Except during the fiscal years ending June 30, 2004, and June 30, 95
2005, the board of trustees shall submit such recommendations for the 96
authorization of disbursement from the trust fund to the joint standing 97
committees of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 98
relating to public health and appropriations and the budgets of state 99
agencies. Not later than thirty days after receipt of such 100
recommendations, said committees shall advise the board of their 101
approval, modifications, if any, or rejection of the board's 102
recommendations. If said joint standing committees do not concur, the 103
speaker of the House of Representatives, the president pro tempore of 104
the Senate, the majority leader of the House of Representatives, the 105
majority leader of the Senate, the minority leader of the House of 106
Representatives and the minority leader of the Senate each shall appoint 107
one member from each of said joint standing committees to serve as a 108
committee on conference. The committee on conference shall submit its 109
report to both committees, which shall vote to accept or reject the report. 110
The report of the committee on conference may not be amended. If a 111
joint standing committee rejects the report of the committee on 112
conference, the board's recommendations shall be deemed approved. If 113
the joint standing committees accept the report of the committee on 114
conference, the joint standing committee having cognizance of matters 115
relating to appropriations and the budgets of state agencies shall advise 116 Raised Bill No. 399
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the board of said joint standing committees' approval or modifications, 117
if any, of the board's recommended disbursement. If said joint standing 118
committees do not act within thirty days after receipt of the board's 119
recommendations for the authorization of disbursement, such 120
recommendations shall be deemed approved. Disbursement from the 121
trust fund shall be in accordance with the board's recommendations as 122
approved or modified by said joint standing committees. 123
(3) After such recommendations for the authorization of 124
disbursement have been approved or modified pursuant to subdivision 125
(2) of this subsection, any modification in the amount of an authorized 126
disbursement in excess of fifty thousand dollars or ten per cent of the 127
authorized amount, whichever is less, shall be submitted to said joint 128
standing committees and approved, modified or rejected in accordance 129
with the procedure set forth in subdivision (2) of this subsection. 130
Notification of all disbursements from the trust fund made pursuant to 131
this section shall be sent to the joint standing committees of the General 132
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to public health and 133
appropriations and the budgets of state agencies, through the Office of 134
Fiscal Analysis. 135
(4) The board of trustees shall, not later than February first of each 136
year [, except following a fiscal year in which the trust fund does not 137
receive a deposit from the Tobacco Settlement Fund,] submit a report to 138
the General Assembly, in accordance with the provisions of section 11-139
4a, that includes all disbursements and other expenditures from the 140
trust fund and an evaluation of the performance and impact of each 141
program receiving funds from the trust fund. Such report shall also 142
include the criteria and application process used to select programs to 143
receive such funds. 144
Sec. 3. Section 53-344 of the general statutes is repealed and the 145
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022): 146
(a) As used in this section: 147
(1) "Cardholder" means any person who presents a driver's license or 148 Raised Bill No. 399
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an identity card to a seller or seller's agent or employee, to purchase or 149
receive tobacco from such seller or seller's agent or employee; 150
(2) "Cigarette" has the same meaning as provided in subsection (b) of 151
section 12-285; 152
(3) "Identity card" means an identification card issued in accordance 153
with the provisions of section 1-1h; 154
(4) "Sale" has the same meaning as provided in section 53-344b; 155
(5) "Give" or "giving" has the same meaning as provided in section 156
53-344b; 157
(6) "Deliver" or "delivering" has the same meaning as provided in 158
section 53-344b; 159
(7) "Seller" means any person engaged in the sale, giving or delivering 160
of cigarettes or tobacco products; 161
(8) "Tobacco products" has the same meaning as provided in section 162
12-330a; 163
(9) "Transaction scan" means the process by which a seller or seller's 164
agent or employee checks, by means of a transaction scan device, the 165
validity of a driver's license or an identity card; and 166
(10) "Transaction scan device" means any commercial device or 167
combination of devices used at a point of sale that is capable of 168
deciphering in an electronically readable format the information 169
encoded on the magnetic strip or bar code of a driver's license or an 170
identity card. 171
(b) Any person who sells, gives or delivers to any person under 172
twenty-one years of age cigarettes or a tobacco product shall be fined 173
not more than three hundred dollars for the first offense, not more than 174
seven hundred fifty dollars for a second offense on or before twenty-175
four months after the date of the first offense and not more than one 176 Raised Bill No. 399
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thousand dollars for each subsequent offense on or before twenty-four 177
months after the date of the first offense. The provisions of this 178
subsection shall not apply to a person under twenty-one years of age 179
who is delivering or accepting delivery of cigarettes or a tobacco 180
product (1) in such person's capacity as an employee, or (2) as part of a 181
scientific study being conducted by an organization for the purpose of 182
medical research to further efforts in cigarette and tobacco product use 183
prevention and cessation, provided such medical research has been 184
approved by the organization's institutional review board, as defined in 185
section 21a-408. 186
(c) Any person under twenty-one years of age who misrepresents 187
such person's age to purchase cigarettes or a tobacco product shall be 188
fined not more than fifty dollars for the first offense and not less than 189
fifty dollars or more than one hundred dollars for each subsequent 190
offense. 191
(d) (1) A seller or seller's agent or employee shall request that each 192
person intending to purchase cigarettes or a tobacco product present a 193
driver's license or identity card to establish that such person is twenty-194
one years of age or older. 195
(2) A seller or seller's agent or employee may perform a transaction 196
scan to check the validity of a driver's license or identity card presented 197
by a cardholder as a condition for selling, giving away or otherwise 198
distributing cigarettes or a tobacco product to the cardholder. 199
[(2)] (3) If the information deciphered by the transaction scan 200
performed under subdivision (1) of this subsection fails to match the 201
information printed on the driver's license or identity card presented by 202
the cardholder, or if the transaction scan indicates that the information 203
so printed is false or fraudulent, neither the seller nor any seller's agent 204
or employee shall sell, give away or otherwise distribute any cigarettes 205
or a tobacco product to the cardholder. 206
[(3)] (4) Subdivision (1) of this subsection does not preclude a seller 207
or seller's agent or employee from using a transaction scan device to 208 Raised Bill No. 399
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check the validity of a document other than a driver's license or an 209
identity card, if the document includes a bar code or magnetic strip that 210
may be scanned by the device, as a condition for selling, giving away or 211
otherwise distributing cigarettes or a tobacco product to the person 212
presenting the document. 213
(e) (1) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall electronically or 214
mechanically record or maintain any information derived from a 215
transaction scan, except the following: (A) The name and date of birth 216
of the person listed on the driver's license or identity card presented by 217
a cardholder; (B) the expiration date and identification number of the 218
driver's license or identity card presented by a cardholder. 219
(2) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall use a transaction scan 220
device for a purpose other than the purposes specified in subsection (e) 221
of section 53-344b, subsection [(d)] (e) of this section or subsection (c) of 222
section 30-86. 223
(3) No seller or seller's agent or employee shall sell or otherwise 224
disseminate the information derived from a transaction scan to any third 225
party, including, but not limited to, selling or otherwise disseminating 226
that information for any marketing, advertising or promotional 227
activities, but a seller or seller's agent or employee may release that 228
information pursuant to a court order. 229
(4) Nothing in subsection [(d)] (e) of this section or this subsection 230
relieves a seller or seller's agent or employee of any responsibility to 231
comply with any other applicable state or federal laws or rules 232
governing the sale, giving away or other distribution of cigarettes or 233
tobacco products. 234
(5) Any person who violates this subsection shall be subject to a civil 235
penalty of not more than one thousand dollars. 236
(f) (1) In any prosecution of a seller or seller's agent or employee for 237
a violation of subsection (b) of this section, it shall be an affirmative 238
defense that all of the following occurred: (A) A cardholder attempting 239 Raised Bill No. 399
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to purchase or receive cigarettes or a tobacco product presented a 240
driver's license or an identity card; (B) a transaction scan of the driver's 241
license or identity card that the cardholder presented indicated that the 242
license or card was valid and indicated that the cardholder was at least 243
twenty-one years of age; and (C) the cigarettes or a tobacco product was 244
sold, given away or otherwise distributed to the cardholder in 245
reasonable reliance upon the identification presented and the completed 246
transaction scan. 247
(2) In determining whether a seller or seller's agent or employee has 248
proven the affirmative defense provided by subdivision (1) of this 249
section, the trier of fact in such prosecution shall consider that 250
reasonable reliance upon the identification presented and the completed 251
transaction scan may require a seller or seller's agent or employee to 252
exercise reasonable diligence and that the use of a transaction scan 253
device does not excuse a seller or seller's agent or employee from 254
exercising such reasonable diligence to determine the following: (A) 255
Whether a person to whom the seller or seller's agent or employee sells, 256
gives away or otherwise distributes cigarettes or a tobacco product is 257
twenty-one years of age or older; and (B) whether the description and 258
picture appearing on the driver's license or identity card presented by a 259
cardholder is that of the cardholder.260
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2022 4-28e(c)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022 4-28f
Sec. 3 July 1, 2022 53-344
Statement of Purpose:
To restore disbursements to the Tobacco and Health Trust Fund to be
used to reduce tobacco and substance abuse and require persons of all
ages to present proof of age to purchase cigarettes.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]