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October 17 , 2005
A Newsletter of the National Association of Tobacco Outlets, Inc.
By: Thomas A. Briant, Executive Director
October 2005 Volume 5, No. 5
Winning Streak Extended
For 2005, NATO has improved its win-loss record on cigarette/tobacco tax increases, smoking bans, legal age increase bills and display bans. The combined win-loss record for all of these state bills in 2005 is:
Wins |
Losses |
Pending |
64 |
15 |
4 |
Below is a list of those states where the various kinds of tobacco bills were defeated:
Cigarette or OPT Taxes Defeated |
| Connecticut D of C Hawaii Illinois Indiana Iowa |
Louisiana Maryland Mississippi Missouri New Mexico North Dakota |
Oregon South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas West Virginia |
Smoking Bans Defeated |
| Arkansas Colorado Georgia Indiana Iowa Maryland |
Minnesota Mississippi Nebraska New Mexico North Carolina Oregon |
South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Virginia |
Legal Age Increase Not Enacted |
| Kentucky Massachusetts |
New Mexico New York |
North Dakota Vermont |
Display Bans Defeated |
| Illinois | South Carolina |
President’s Message |
The win-loss numbers on tobacco bills fought by NATO don’t lie. The association and its members have done an outstanding job this year in fighting for tobacco stores and protecting the tobacco industry.
I do see some trends, though, that every tobacco retailer should be concerned about. First, more states are considering smoking bans (9 in 2004 and now 20 in 2005). Also, 8 states had bills to raise the legal age to buy tobacco. Finally, 10 states jumped on a bandwagon and had bills introduced that would ban the sale of flavored cigarettes or tobacco products. These new kinds of bills would allow fewer adults to buy tobacco products and limit the kinds of products that we sell.
We expect to see a lot more of these restrictions proposed when state legislatures come back in 2006. As always, NATO will be the leader in fighting these unfair regulations. Passing legislation is never a certainty, but you can always count on NATO to be right there by your side fighting for tobacco stores.
-Velma Hartley, NATO President
NATO Monitor/October 2005
This November, NATO will members will be voting to elect five retailers and three manufacturer/distributor members to serve two year terms on the NATO board of directors. All NATO members are encouraged to considered being a candidate for a board seat. To be eligible for an open board seat, a candidate must be an owner, partner, shareholder, officer or employee of a member in good standing. The board meets six times a year (three by conference call and three in-person meetings). One of the best ways to become more involved in the association is to run for a board seat. If you want to be a candidate, please call NATO Executive Director Tom Briant at 1-8660869-8888 by November 1st.
Cigar Survey
Blunt Cigar Success Story
NATO’s efforts to have the Rochester, New York Police Department cease issuing citations to legitimate tobacco retailers that offer blunt style cigars for sale to the public have succeeded. In August, the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team (G.R.A.N.E.T.) began issuing citations to tobacco retailers claiming that the blunt style cigars they offered for sale were “drug paraphernalia”. NATO immediately contacted the G.R.A.N.E.T. commanding officer and sent a letter to G.R.A.N.E.T. demanding that the agency cease and desist from this enforcement action. NATO explained that blunt style cigars have been manufactured at least since the 1950’s and are legal tobacco products not designed for illicit purposes. According to reports, the citations are no longer being issued. NATO worked closely with the New York Association of Convenience Stores to stop this improper targeting of blunt style cigars.
Welcome New Members
New manufacturer and distributor members that have joined NATO include East West Trading Group, Ewestern, Inc. and Konci G & D Management Group. The support of these companies and all of the manufacturer and distributor members is sincerely appreciated.
Hurricane Relief
At the request of law enforcement personnel in Louisiana, Altadis, U.S.A., Nat Sherman Company, Smoker Friendly Stores and Swedish Match North America have donated tobacco products for the military and law enforcement personnel working in the devastated hurricane areas. A special thank you to these NATO members for their generosity as Gulf Coast area works to rebuild.Save the Date: 2006 NATO Expo
Mark your 2006 calendars now to attend the 2006 NATO Expo to be held in Las Vegas on March 27-29, 2006. This annual trade show event will kick off with a NATO Industry Gala Dinner on the evening of Monday, March 27 th. The show schedule has been revamped to include retail seminars and trade show exhibit hours on both Tuesday and Wednesday, March 28 th and 29 th. For details about the upcoming 
Quarterly Promotions $$$
A Fee or a Tax?
Minnesota’s recently enacted $.75/pack “health impact fee” had its day in court on September 29 th. Rather than proposing a $.75/pack cigarette tax increase, Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty called the tax a “fee” to avoid breaking a “no new taxes” pledge that he signed when he was a candidate for governor. The major cigarette companies and tobacco wholesalers sued the state arguing that the health impact fee violates the state’s 1998 tobacco lawsuit settlement agreement. In the settlement agreement, the state released all future claims to recover health care costs associated with tobacco use in exchange for annual payments from the major cigarette companies every year in perpetuity. However, the new health impact fee law specifically states that the fee is intended to recover health care costs arising out of tobacco use. In short, the state is double dipping by enacting a law to recoup health care costs when the state has already collected over $1 billion from the cigarette manufacturers since 1998 and will continue to collect several hundred million additional dollars each year to cover smoking-related health care costs paid by the state. The Ramsey County District Court heard oral arguments and granted a motion to allow smaller cigarette manufacturers to intervene in the case. The judge should issue a final ruling on the case by mid-November.