The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

In the last two weeks, a lot of things have happened at the legislature in Lincoln, and at the same time, very little has happened. A number of good bills have advanced: supporting victims of human trafficking, providing an income tax break to military retirees and others. But we haven’t had the opportunity yet to give an up-or-down vote on any of the bills dealing directly with property tax relief. The session is still young and I am hopeful that we will get something meaningful moved forward this year.

I introduced eight bills this year, on a variety of topics. Two of these bills deal with bringing Nebraska in line with new federal laws passed last year. LB 1064 raises the age to purchase or use tobacco or vape products from 19 to 21 in Nebraska. The federal government made this change in 2019, which caused some confusion and headaches for many retailers. Some retailers decided to immediately begin restricting tobacco and vape products to those over 21, while others stuck with 19, making things confusing for consumers. This bill would make things simpler for our small business owners.

Additionally, while states are allowed to decide individually the age at which they allow purchase and use of regulated products like alcohol, tobacco and vape, the federal government has enforced nationwide minimum ages by threatening to withhold federal funding.

It’s not just merchants and federal dollars we want to protect either. There has been a great effort in recent years to keep tobacco and vape products out of the hands of kids - especially middle- and highschoolers. Raising the age to 21 helps substantially with that, as will limiting access to easy-to-use cartridges of vape flavors designed to be enticing to children. My LB 1176 is designed to conform to new FDA rules on flavored vape. The bill would prevent the sale of vape cartridges containing flavors like cotton candy, caramel apple, chocolate, and others which underage users of vape products use almost exclusively. The bill would not ban tobacco or menthol flavored cartridges, or vape fluid sold for use in open-tank devices.

Nebraska shouldn’t be a state where young people with developing brains and lungs have access to chemicals which could be harmful to them - and Nebraska should be a state where adults can make their own decisions on what products they choose to use for themselves. I believe that these two bills both accomplish those twin goals. Both bills were discussed in a hearing of the General Affairs Committee on Feb. 3.

As always, do not hesitate to reach out to me or my office on issues relating to state government, bills in the legislature, or public policy in general. And be sure to mention where you’re from: responding to constituents is my top priority at the start of every workday. I can be reached at [email protected], and you can call my office during regular business hours at 402-471-2631.