Amendment #19 to H4187

Parity in Culturally Significant Small Businesses

Mr. Vargas of Haverhill moves to amend the bill by adding the following section:

SECTION XXXX. Chapter 270 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended in Section 22, subsection (c)(2)(B), by striking out the words: “fifty-one percent” and inserting in place thereof the following words: “twenty-five percent.”

SECTION 2. Chapter 270 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended in Section 22, subsection (c)(2)(B), by adding the following paragraph after the amended subsection:

“An establishment qualifying under this provision shall:

(i) prohibit entry to any individual under 21 years of age;

(ii) not allow food to be prepared on the premises;

(iii) ensure that tobacco consumption remains the principal marketed purpose and cultural identity of the establishment; and

(iv) submit quarterly certification of compliance with the revenue threshold to the Department of Revenue, with copies made available to the local board of health upon request.”

SECTION 3. Chapter 64C of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting the following:

(a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the excise tax imposed on hand-rolled premium cigars shall be assessed at a rate of 10.75 percent of the retail price, or the rate of excise tax on adult-use cannabis under chapter 64N, whichever is greater.

(b) For the purposes of this section, “hand-rolled premium cigar” shall mean a cigar that:

(1) is wrapped in whole tobacco leaf;

(2) contains a 100 percent leaf tobacco binder;

(3) is made entirely by hand in the traditional method; and

(4) does not contain any characterizing flavor other than tobacco.

(c) All other cigars and smoking tobacco products not meeting the criteria of subsection (b) shall remain subject to the excise tax imposed under Section 7B of this chapter.

SECTION 4. Section 7B of Chapter 64C of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2022 Official Edition, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following sentence:

“This section shall not apply to hand-rolled premium cigars, as defined in SECTION 3; such products shall be taxed in accordance with said section.”