H. B. 4459
(By Delegates Swartzmiller, Webster, Michael,
Varner and Kominar)
[Introduced February 11, 2002; referred to the
Committee on Finance.]
A BILL to amend chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine-d, relating to
the creation of an underage tobacco prevention grant program
for tobacco retailers; setting forth a declaration of public
need for grant assistance; establishing a grant program;
setting forth definitions; providing for a grant for qualified
tobacco technology; providing for the appropriation of grant
moneys; designating the powers and duties of the secretary of
health and human resources; setting forth criteria to use in
determining what is a qualified tobacco technology expense;
providing that use of qualified tobacco technology constitutes
prima facie evidence of compliance with law prohibiting minors from purchasing tobacco products; providing that the
department be provided with records from retailers involved in
the grant program; prescribing a time limitation on retailers
to acquire a grant; and prescribing a monetary limit on the
total number of grants the department is authorized to
approve.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That chapter sixteen of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be amended by adding
thereto a new article, designated article nine-d, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 9D. UNDERAGE TOBACCO USE PREVENTION GRANT PROGRAM.
§16-9D-1. Short title.
This article may be known and cited as the "Underage Tobacco
Prevention Grant Act."
§16-9D-2. Declaration of public need for grant assistance;
establishment of grant program.
The Legislature declares that it is the policy of the state to
prevent and discourage the unlawful purchase and consumption of
tobacco products by minors. To this end, the Legislature finds
that the prevention of unlawful purchases and consumption of
tobacco products by underage youths will result in a future decrease in the use of these products, and will reduce future costs
to the state and society in general attendant with the treatment of
tobacco related illnesses.
The Legislature further declares that it can prevent the
unlawful purchase and consumption of tobacco products by underage
youths through a grant program designed to promote certain scanner
technology to aid in the determination of a consumer's actual age,
and assist tobacco retailers with the purchase of the scanner
technology to combat and eliminate the unlawful purchase and
consumption of tobacco products by the underage youth of this
state.
§16-9D-3. Definitions.
The following words and phrases when used in this article
mean as follows:
(a) "Department" means the West Virginia department of health
and human resources.
(b) "Grant" or "grant program" means a grant or the grant
program authorized and established by the provisions of this
article.
(c) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department, or his
or her designee.
(d) "Tobacco" or "tobacco products" include any pipe,
cigarette paper or any other paper prepared, manufactured or made
for the purpose of smoking any tobacco or tobacco product; or any
cigar, cigarette, snuff, chewing tobacco or tobacco product, in any
form.
(e) "Qualified tobacco technology expense" means that expense
incurred by a tobacco retailer for the purchase and use of
technology intended to control the access of minors to tobacco
products and which is capable of:
(1) Capturing the information from a bar code or magnetic
strip on a driver's license or identification card issued by the
division of motor vehicles;
(2) Producing a declaration of age in print form and storing
a record of the event in memory;
(3) Producing an audible, visual and printed result;
(4) Reporting a history of the events, including the ability
to transfer the data for archiving and data base development
purposes; and
(5) Storing at least one thousand events at any time before
data is transferred.
(f) "Retailer" means any entity or person licensed or registered by the tax division of the West Virginia department of
tax and revenue to conduct business in the state that sells tobacco
products to consumers.
16-9D-4. Grant for qualified tobacco technology expense; amount;
notification.
(a) Application for grant by retailer. -- A retailer who
intends to incur a qualified tobacco technology expense may apply
for a qualified tobacco technology expense grant as provided in
this article. In order to receive the grant, the retailer must
submit an application to the department for a qualified tobacco
technology expense grant for any qualified tobacco technology
expense incurred on or after the first day of January, two thousand
two.
(b) Amount of grant. -- A retailer that applies under
subsection (a) of this section and is approved by the department
under the provisions of this article shall receive a qualified
tobacco technology expense grant not to exceed the lesser of half
the retail cost of the qualified tobacco technology expense or one
thousand dollars per business location.
(c) Notification of approval from department. -- The
department shall notify the retailer within thirty days of receipt of the retailer's application whether the retailer's application
has been approved, and if so, in what monetary amount.
§16-9D-5. Appropriation of grant moneys.
All grant moneys appropriated by the Legislature and
designated to the secretary for implementation of the Underage
Tobacco Prevention Grant Act, including the payment of all grants
to retailers, shall be transferred from the tobacco settlement fund
pursuant to and in accordance with the provisions of article four,
chapter eleven-a of this code. These funds shall be available only
upon appropriation by the Legislature as part of the secretary's
budget, and shall not exceed three hundred thousand dollars.
§16-9D-6. Powers and duties of the secretary.
(a) Subject to the provisions of this article and within the
limits of appropriations made by the Legislature, the secretary is
authorized to: (1) Prepare and supervise the issuance of public
information concerning the grant program; (2) prescribe the form
and regulate the submission of applications for grants; (3)
administer or contract for the administration of such applications
as may be prescribed by the senior administrator; (4) select
qualified recipients of grants; (5) award grants; (6) accept
grants, gifts, bequests and devises of real and personal property
for the purposes of the grant program; (7) employ or engage such professional and administrative employees as may be necessary to
assist the secretary in the performance of the duties and
responsibilities, who shall serve at the will and pleasure of the
secretary; (8) employ or engage such clerical and other employees
as may be necessary to assist the secretary in the performance of
the duties and responsibilities, who shall be under the direction
and control of the secretary; (9) prescribe the duties and fix the
compensation of all such employees; and (10) propose legislative
rules in accordance with the provisions of article three, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code, not inconsistent with the provisions of
this article relating to the administration of the Underage Tobacco
Prevention Grant Act.
(b) The department shall propose a legislative rule pursuant
to article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of this code to implement
the provisions of this section which shall be filed with the
legislative rules committee by the first day of July, two thousand
two.
(c) The legislative rule shall provide at least the following:
(1) That consideration of grant moneys distributed is
contingent upon acquisition of a qualified tobacco technology
expense;
(2) That an appropriate allocation process be provided for
distribution of funds directly to the eligible retailers;
(3) Provisions which shall establish minimum standards of
eligibility for retailers in regard to the approval or denial of
any retailer's qualified tobacco technology expense grant
application and subsequent approval or denial of any grant funds;
(4) That certain records are maintained by the retailer and
made available to the department and the West Virginia alcohol
beverage control administration; and
(5) That any grant funds not expended by the department at the
end of each fiscal year shall be returned to the tobacco settlement
fund.
§16-9D-7. Determination of qualified tobacco technology expense.
In prescribing standards for determining which tobacco
technology expense is a qualified tobacco technology expense
subject to approval for the grant program, the department shall
require:
(1) A copy of the technology specifications demonstrating that
the specifications meet the definition of a qualified tobacco
access control expense;
(2) A copy of an invoice to the retailer for the technology purchased for qualification as a qualified tobacco technology
expense; and
(3) A copy of the check or checks and paid receipts for
technology purchased for qualifications as a qualified tobacco
technology expense.
§16-9D-8. Effect of use of qualified tobacco technology.
Implementation of qualified tobacco technology by a retailer,
in conjunction with the visual verification of the photographic
identification of a consumer, as compared to the actual consumer,
shall constitute prima facie evidence that the retailer properly
identified the age of a consumer attempting to purchase a tobacco
product in accordance with the laws of this state.
§16-9D-9. Availability of records.
Agents of the department and of the West Virginia alcohol
beverage control administration shall have access upon request to
all records developed and maintained by retailers as a result of
implementation of this grant program.
§16-9D-10. Time limitation.
A retailer is not entitled to a qualified tobacco technology
expense grant incurred in taxable years ending after the
thirty-first day of December, two thousand five.
§16-9D-11. Limitation on grants.
The total amount of grants approved by the department may not
exceed three hundred thousand dollars.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to create a grant program
for tobacco retailers who incur a technology expense for the use of
underage tobacco prevention.
This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring are omitted.
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