PCA Magazine Show Issue 2021

Gov’t Briefing cont. Fighting Back Against COVID-Related Shutdowns PCA, alongside its members, state association partners and consumers, faced COVID- 19-related shutdowns in several states and localities in early 2021. As other retail and hospitality businesses opened, expanded capacity and loosened restrictions, some states and localities sought to restrict indoor smoking based on a strict interpretation of COVID-19 mask policies. The most high-profile example of this battle occurred in the State of Michigan, which eventually reversed its position thanks to the advocacy of PCA and the Michigan Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association who met with Elizabeth Hertel, the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, to explain the issue. PCA and its partners faced similar threats in Los Angeles, Montgomery County Maryland, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. These advocacy battles reinforce the importance of remaining active and engaged with associations, both nationally and in your states to protect tobacconists and the ability to enjoy a premium cigar or pipe. Federal Tax Increase Bills Introduced U.S Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Senate Finance Committee Chair Ron Wyden (D-OR), along with U.S. Representative Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), introduced the bicameral Tobacco Tax Equity Act of 2021 S.1314/H.R. 2786. Senator Durbin also reintroduced a massive tobacco tax increase as part of a bill that is otherwise intended to address maternal mortality. Buried within S. 411, the Mothers and Offspring Mortality and Morbidity Awareness Act (MOMMA’s Act), are changes to the tax code that would treat the entire tobacco industry as cigarettes. The result is an estimated 500 percent to 1,000 percent increase on the tax for premium cigars (depending on size) and a 1,650 percent increase on the tax for pipe tobacco. PCA is actively lobbying against this legislation and encourages manufacturers, retailers, employees and consumers to visit cigaraction.org to oppose these tax hikes.