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House bill would move legal smoking age up to 21 in Michigan

Detroit Free Press - 6/11/2017

June 11--LANSING -- Smoking cigarettes would get a lot harder, especially for young people, under a package of bills introduced in the Legislature last week.

The bills would make it illegal to sell or furnish tobacco products to anyone under age 21. Now, the age is 18 for cigarette sales.

The bills also would ban tobacco product vending machines, online sales of cigarettes and change the infraction for selling to a minor from a misdemeanor crime to a civil infraction.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 36.5 million adults in the U.S. smoke cigarettes. In Michigan, 29.1% of high school youths report using tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, and 10% say they smoke cigarettes.

Other bills introduced last week include a package sponsored by Democrats ensuring the civil rights of immigrants, including prohibiting police from arresting or detaining a person based on immigration status.

The bills came up in the same week that a House committee approved a pair of bills banning communities from adopting ordinances that would identify the town as a sanctuary city, unwilling to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

HB 4692: Designate a portion of M-53 as the Eric C. Post Memorial Highway. Sponsor: Rep. Henry Yanez, D-Sterling Heights.

HB 4693-95: Repeal licensing and fees for landscape architects and revise prohibition of contracts with public entities against indemnification provisions. Sponsors: Reps. Shane Hernandez, R-Port Huron, John Reilly, R-Oakland Township, Sue Allor, R-Wolverine.

HB 4696: Require reporting the number of juveniles under the age of 18 tried for felony or misdemeanors as adults. Sponsor: Rep. Sam Singh, D-East Lansing.

HB 4697: Expand definition of a disaster to include a cybersecurity incident. Sponsor: Rep. Patrick Green, D-Warren.

HB 4698: Exempt specific fuel oil from taxation. Sponsor: Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell.

HB 4699: Allow choice of vehicle registration plates at a reduced fee for disabled veterans. Sponsor: Rep. Jason Wentworth, R-Farwell.

HB 4700: Eliminate the provision that precinct delegates to file as a write-in candidate on election day. Sponsor: Rep. Jim Lilly, R-Macatawa.

HB 4701: Waive fees for Michigan limited liability companies for certain veterans. Sponsor: Rep. Holly Hughes, R-White River Township.

HB 4702: Provide for the automatic expungement of arrest records for wrongful arrest because of mistaken identity or identity theft. Sponsor: Rep. Jewell Jones, D-Inkster.

HB 4703: Provide for supplemental allocation for certain school districts to pay down debt. Sponsor: Rep. Jewell Jones, D-Inkster.

HB 4704: Allow local units of government to regulate use of consumer fireworks. Sponsor: Rep. Martin Howrylak, R-Troy.

HB 4705: Provide a training component in drivers' education curriculum regarding protocol when pulled over by a law enforcement officer. Sponsor: Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township.

HB 4706-4707: Enact the extreme risk protection act, allowing a judge to remove guns from a person who presents a danger to others or themselves and prohibit that person from purchasing a gun. Sponsor: Rep. Robert Wittenberg, D-Oak Park.

HB 4708: Allow schools, colleges and universities to purchase electricity from an alternative supplier. Sponsor: Rep. John Reilly, R-Oakland Township.

HB 4709: Provide for the regulation and licensing of certified anesthesiologist assistants. Sponsor: Rep. Hank Vaupel, R-Fowlerville.

HB 4710-11: Allow certain entities to prohibit the open display or carry of firearms. Sponsors: Reps. Jim Ellison, D-Royal Oak, Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit.

HB 4712: Require municipalities to bill customers for water or sewerage services on a regular basis. Sponsor: Rep. LaTanya Garrett, D-Detroit.

HB 4713-14: Create a state division on behavioral health for deaf, deaf-blind and hard of hearing. Sponsors: Reps. Phil Phelps, D-Flushing, Martin Howrylak, R-Troy.

HB 4715: Create a no-fault auto insurance fraud prevention authority. Sponsor: Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township.

HB 4716: Require termination of parental rights for subjecting a child to female genital mutilation. Sponsor: Rep. Peter Lucido, R-Shelby Township.

HB 4717: Create a fund-raising license plate for the Michigan Humane Society. Sponsor: Rep. Robert Kosowski, D-Westland.

HB 4718: Modify the number of township landowners needed as a threshold for a petition to abandon or discontinue a highway. Sponsor: Rep. Steve Marino, R-Harrison Township.

HB 4719: Provide for allocation of responsibility between landlord and tenant when it comes to prevention and management of bedbug infestation. Sponsor: Rep. Brandt Iden, R-Oshtemo Township.

HB 4720-21: Prohibit hospitals, medical personnel or the use of local police resources to investigate or arrest persons for immigration enforcement purposes. Sponsors: Reps. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, Robert Wittenberg, D-Oak Park.

HB 4722: Prohibit unequal treatment of students based on immigration status. Sponsor: Rep. Adam Zemke, D-Ann Arbor.

HB 4723: Require in-state tuition for noncitizen students. Sponsor: Rep. Yousef Rabhi, D-Ann Arbor.

HB 4724: Eliminate stop and frisk procedures by police. Sponsor: Rep. Ronnie Peterson, D-Ypsilanti.

HB 4725: Prohibit the creation or management of state public databases that includes country of origin, religious preference or sexual orientation. Sponsor: Rep. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield.

HB 4726: Require instruction on civil rights and the bill of rights in education curriculum. Sponsor: Rep. Patrick Green, D-Warren.

HB 4727: Prohibit the detention of individuals based on their immigration status. Sponsor: Rep. David LaGrand, D-Grand Rapids.

HB 4728: Establish legal aid for individuals in deportation proceedings. Sponsor: Rep. Erika Geiss, D-Taylor.

HB 4729: Require the state to publicly post organizations or individuals accepting funding from the Department of Homeland Security. Sponsor: Rep. Jewell Jones, D-Inkster.

HB 4730: Prohibit the use of system that verifies citizenship to determine eligibility for employment for public employees, state contractors and subcontractors. Sponsor: Rep. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn.

HB 4731: Require a percentage of state contracts be awarded to majority-minority businesses. Sponsor: Rep. Jim Ellison, D-Royal Oak.

HB 4732: Create a refugee settlement fund. Sponsor: Rep. Sylvia Santana, D-Detroit.

HB 4733: Prohibit awarding state contracts to companies that are involved in building a border wall. Sponsor: Rep. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit.

HB 4734: Provide for expenses to be paid to members of the Boards of County Canvassers in counties with a population between 475,000 and 1 million. Sponsor: Rep. Jeremy Moss, D-Southfield.

HB 4735: Expand the definition of eligible institutions for post-secondary dual enrollment. Sponsor: Rep. Aaron Miller, R-Sturgis.

HB 4736: Increase the minimum age to sell, give or furnish tobacco products to minors to 21 years of age and change the infraction from a misdemeanor crime to a civil infraction. Sponsor: Rep. Tommy Brann, R-Wyoming.

HB 4737-39: Regulate the storage and access to tobacco products, prohibit the sale of tobacco products by mail and prohibit tobacco vending machines. Sponsors: Reps. Abdullah Hammoud, D-Dearborn, John Bizon, R-Battle Creek, Terry Sabo, D-Muskegon.

HB 4740: Provide for labeling of gas cans manufactured in the state of Michigan. Sponsor: Rep. Steven Johnson, R-Wayland.

HB 4741: Develop policies to limit the time of incarcerated individuals under the age of 21 are kept confined in jail cells. Sponsor: Rep. Martin Howrylak, R-Troy.

HB 4742-43: Allow betting on fantasy sports teams. Sponsors: Reps. Jim Tedder, R-Clarkston, Aaron Miller, R-Strugis.

Senate bills

SB 425-9: Allow online voter registration. Sponsors: Sens. Judy Emmons, R-Sheridan, Mike Nofs, R-Battle Creek, Jim Stamas, R-Midland, Goeff Hansen, R-Hart, David Hildenbrand, R-Lowell.

SB 430-32: Revise the definition of financial licensing acts in the consumer financial services act, require licensing of small loan providers and provide for general revisions in payday lending act. Sponsors: Sens. Vincent Gregory, D-Southfield, David Robertson, R-Grand Blanc.

SB 433: Modify the background check requirements for prospective medical marijuana facilities to include fingerprints of all the principles in a business that will be submitted to the Michigan State Police and Federal Bureau of Investigation for a criminal background check. Sponsor: Sen. Rick Jones, R-Grand Ledge.

SB 434: Provide for a veterans' ombudsman to provide oversight of veterans' facilities. Sponsor: Sen. Peter MacGregor, R-Rockford.

SB 435-38: Require certification of drug treatment, sobriety, mental health and veterans' courts by the state court administrative office. Sponsor: Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton.

SB 438-440: Change the name of the Michigan grape and wine industry council to the Michigan craft beverage council. Sponsor: Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart.

SB 441: Modify the penalties for selling liquor to a minor. Sponsor: Sen. Goeff Hansen, R-Hart.

SB 442: Provide for general revisions to the business corporation act. Sponsor: Sen. Mike Kowall, R-White Lake.

SB 443: Revise the definition of bullying in schools to include the word "repeated" incidents of behavior that involves "real or perceived power imbalance between students." Sponsor: Sen. Darwin Booher, R-Evart.

SB 444: Revise the requirements for employment as a school counselor. Sponsor: Sen. Kenneth Horn, R-Frankenmuth.

SB 445: Provide for income tax deductions for contributions made to the state's education savings plan or qualified ABLE program established by another state. Sponsor: Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Hart.

For more information or to track legislation, go to www.legislature.mi.gov

Contact Kathleen Gray: 313-223-4430, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal

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