HB 0405 2004
1	A bill to be entitled
2	An act relating to nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes;
3	creating s. 210.0205, F.S.; providing definitions;
4	imposing a fee on certain cigarettes; providing payment
5	requirements; requiring reporting of the number and
6	denominations of stamps affixed to individual packages of
7	certain cigarettes by manufacturer and brand family;
8	authorizing rulemaking regarding such reports; requiring
9	registration with the Attorney General of nonsettling
10	manufacturers of cigarettes; requiring development,
11	maintenance, and publication by the Attorney General of a
12	list of nonsettling manufacturers of cigarettes that have
13	certified their compliance with this act; treating
14	cigarettes of certain manufacturers that have not paid the
15	fee imposed by this act or that have not complied with
16	reporting requirements as cigarettes for which the tax
17	imposed by s. 210.02, F.S., has not been paid; prohibiting
18	the stamping of certain cigarettes for which the fee
19	imposed by this act has not been paid in full or the
20	nonsettling manufacturer of which has not complied with
21	reporting requirements; creating s. 210.0207, F.S.;
22	prohibiting the transport of certain unstamped cigarettes
23	across state lines under certain circumstances;
24	prohibiting the affixing of certain stamps to certain
25	cigarettes or paying certain excise taxes prohibited by
26	another state under certain circumstances; providing for
27	reports on the transport of stamped cigarettes across
28	state lines; providing a definition; providing an
29	effective date.
30
31	WHEREAS, it is the intent of the Legislature to impose a
32	fee on cigarettes of nonsettling manufacturers in order to
33	recover health care costs incurred by the state as a result of
34	sales of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes; to prevent
35	nonsettling manufacturers from undermining the state's policy of
36	reducing underage smoking by offering their cigarettes for sale
37	substantially below the price of cigarettes of other
38	manufacturers; to protect funding, which is reduced as a result
39	of the growth of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette sales, for
40	programs funded in whole or in part by payments to the state
41	under the tobacco settlement agreement and to recoup for the
42	state settlement-payment revenue lost to the state as a result
43	of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette sales; to fund enforcement
44	and administration of nonsettling-manufacturer legislation and
45	the fee imposed herein, including reasonable administrative
46	costs incurred by wholesale dealers complying with any
47	additional reporting requirements necessitated by this act; and
48	to fund such other purposes as the Legislature shall determine,
49	NOW, THEREFORE,
50
51	Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
52
53	Section 1. Section 210.0205, Florida Statutes, is created
54	to read:
55	210.0205 Nonsettling-manufacturer fee.--
56	(1) As used in this section:
57	(a) "Manufacturer" includes an entity that is the first
58	importer into the United States of cigarettes manufactured
59	abroad.
60	(b) "Nonsettling manufacturer" means any tobacco product
61	manufacturer that has not entered into the tobacco settlement
62	agreement, as defined in s. 215.56005(1)(f), or into the
63	Attorneys General Settlement Agreement with Brooke Group, Ltd.,
64	Liggett & Myers, Inc., and Liggett Group, Inc., dated March 15,
65	1996.
66	(c) "Nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes" means cigarettes
67	manufactured by a nonsettling manufacturer.
68	(2) A fee, in addition to all other taxes or fees of every
69	kind imposed by law, is imposed upon the sale, receipt,
70	purchase, possession, consumption, handling, distribution, and
71	use in this state of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes, to
72	which a package of such cigarettes an agent affixes a stamp or
73	stamp insignia as required by law, in the amount of 25 mills per
74	cigarette, to be adjusted upward annually each January 1 by the
75	greater of 3 percent or the Consumer Price Index as adopted by
76	the division by rule, applied each year for the previous year,
77	beginning with the year of the effective date of this act. The
78	division shall collect the fee each month directly from each
79	nonsettling manufacturer based on information received pursuant
80	to subsection (5). Except as otherwise provided in this section,
81	the fee shall be imposed, collected, paid, administered, and
82	enforced in the same manner as the tax on cigarettes imposed by
83	s. 210.02.
84	(3) A nonsettling manufacturer selling cigarettes in this
85	state on the effective date of this act shall provide to the
86	division the information described in subsections (6) and (7)
87	and pay the fee imposed by subsection (2) within 30 days after
88	the effective date of this act. If a nonsettling manufacturer is
89	not selling cigarettes in this state on the effective date of
90	this act, before selling cigarettes in this state, the
91	nonsettling manufacturer shall prepay the fee imposed by
92	subsection (2). The prepayment amount shall be determined by
93	multiplying by 25 mills the number of cigarettes the division
94	reasonably projects that the nonsettling manufacturer will sell
95	in this state in the first calendar month, or $50,000, whichever
96	is more. The division may require a nonsettling manufacturer to
97	provide any information reasonably necessary to determine the
98	amount of the prepayment fee and, in the case of prepayment,
99	shall establish regulations providing for reimbursement to
100	nonsettling manufacturers if actual sales are less than sales as
101	projected by the division and for additional payment by
102	nonsettling manufacturers if actual sales are greater than sales
103	as projected by the division.
104	(4) The purposes of the fee are to:
105	(a) Recover health care costs incurred by the state as a
106	result of sales of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes.
107	(b) Prevent nonsettling manufacturers from undermining the
108	state's policy of reducing underage smoking by offering
109	cigarettes for sale substantially below the price of cigarettes
110	of other manufacturers.
111	(c) Protect funding, which is reduced as a result of the
112	growth of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette sales, for programs
113	funded in whole or in part by payments to the state under the
114	tobacco settlement agreement and to recoup for the state
115	settlement-payment revenue lost to the state as a result of
116	nonsettling-manufacturer cigarette sales.
117	(d) Fund enforcement and administration of nonsettling-
118	manufacturer legislation and the fee imposed by this section,
119	including reasonable administrative costs incurred by wholesale
120	dealers complying with any additional reporting requirements
121	necessitated by this section.
122	(e) Fund such other purposes as the Legislature
123	determines.
124	(5) Monthly reports shall be made to the division pursuant
125	to s. 210.09(2) by each agent and wholesaler. Such reports shall
126	state the number and denominations of stamps or stamp insignia
127	affixed to individual packages of nonsettling-manufacturer
128	cigarettes, by manufacturer and brand family, sold for each
129	place of business in the month preceding the month in which the
130	report is made. The division may adopt rules requiring any
131	agent, wholesaler, wholesale dealer, or nonsettling manufacturer
132	to provide in the monthly report any information necessary or
133	appropriate to determining the fee due under subsection (2) or
134	to enforcing any provision of this act.
135	(6) Before commencing sales of cigarettes in this state,
136	or, if selling cigarettes in this state on the effective date of
137	this act, within 30 days after the effective date of this act, a
138	nonsettling manufacturer shall provide to the Attorney General,
139	on a form prescribed by the Attorney General:
140	(a) The complete name, address, and telephone number of
141	the nonsettling manufacturer.
142	(b) The date the nonsettling manufacturer began or intends
143	to begin selling cigarettes in this state.
144	(c) The names of the brand families of the cigarettes the
145	nonsettling manufacturer is selling or will sell in this state.
146	(d) A statement of the nonsettling manufacturer's
147	intention to comply with the obligations imposed by this
148	section.
149	(e) The name, address, telephone number, and signature of
150	an officer of the nonsettling manufacturer attesting to all of
151	the information described in this subsection.
152
153	The Attorney General shall make information provided pursuant to
154	this subsection available to the division.
155	(7) Each nonsettling manufacturer subject to the fee
156	imposed by subsection (2) shall certify to the Attorney General
157	on the first day of each month that the manufacturer is in
158	compliance with this section and has paid in full the fee
159	imposed by subsection (2). The Attorney General shall develop,
160	maintain, and publish on its Internet website a directory
161	listing all nonsettling manufacturers that have provided
162	current, accurate, and complete certifications. The Attorney
163	General shall provide a copy of the list to any person upon
164	request.
165	(8) Cigarettes of a nonsettling manufacturer that has not
166	paid the fee imposed by subsection (2), or that has not complied
167	with the reporting requirements of subsections (3), (5), (6),
168	and (7), shall be treated as cigarettes for which the tax
169	imposed by s. 210.02 has not been paid. A person shall not affix
170	to any package of nonsettling-manufacturer cigarettes the stamp
171	required under s. 210.06 after such person receives notice from
172	the division that the nonsettling manufacturer of such
173	cigarettes has not paid in full the fee imposed by subsection
174	(2) or if the nonsettling manufacturer is not listed on the
175	Attorney General's directory described in subsection (7).
176	Section 2. Section 210.0207, Florida Statutes, is created
177	to read:
178	210.0207 Cigarettes in interstate commerce.--
179	(1) A person may not transport or cause to be transported
180	from this state cigarettes for sale in another state without
181	first affixing to each package of the cigarettes the stamp
182	required by the state in which the cigarettes are to be sold or
183	paying any other excise tax on the cigarettes imposed by the
184	state in which the cigarettes are to be sold.
185	(2) A person may not affix to a package of cigarettes the
186	stamp required by another state or pay any other excise tax on
187	the cigarettes imposed by another state if the other state
188	prohibits stamps from being affixed to a package of the
189	cigarettes, prohibits the payment of any other excise tax on the
190	cigarettes, or prohibits the sale of the cigarettes.
191	(3) On or before the 10th day of each month, a person who
192	transports or causes to be transported from this state
193	cigarettes for sale in another state shall submit to the
194	division a report identifying the quantity, brand family, and
195	style of each brand family of the cigarettes transported or
196	caused to be transported in the preceding calendar quarter and
197	the name and address of each recipient of the cigarettes.
198	(4) For purposes of this section, "person" means an
199	individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or
200	any other organization or group of persons. "Person" does not
201	include any common or contract carrier or public warehouse that
202	is not owned, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly by
203	such person.
204	Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a law.