COLUMBUS, Ohio — As the new fiscal year approaches, state lawmakers are considering legislation that would roll back local tobacco regulations.
The Ohio Senate's budget plan would ban the sale of nearly all flavored tobacco products, with the exception of menthol flavored products. It's an issue that lawmakers on both sides of the debate are still divided on.
"This directly affects tax revenue to the state. If states all over said, 'You can't sell cigarettes inside our city,' that's, you know, could be tens of millions of dollars of state revenues," said Senate President Matt Huffman.
"Menthol products are more popular in communities of color, and certainly if we're going to be on the flavors. Last time I checked, menthol was a flavor seems like that it should be across the board," Senator Nickie Antonio (D) Lakewood said.
Dustin Holfinger is the state government relations director, for the American Heart Association.
"I started while I was playing baseball in high school and then moved off to college and started smoking," he said. "It is a very difficult habit and addiction to kick," Holfinger said.
With two days left to pass the state's budget, Holfinger is particularly interested in the legislation that would nearly ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products.
"While they're taking away the ability for communities to enforce their own policies or craft their own policies and then enforce them. They didn't replace it with anything to allow for proper enforcement," he added.
The city of Columbus banned flavored tobacco sales in December. Bexley passed an ordinance against flavored tobacco vaping products in 2020. Under the Senate budget, those bans would go away.
"We do not want local governments preempting the sale of an otherwise legal product inside their city," Huffman said.
Senators are working to pass the budget by the June 30 deadline.