95% E-cigarette tax!

Posting this message I received today:

Vapers let's stop this absurd legislation!

To all vapers:

Sign this petition to stop unfair legislation on e-cigarettes!

WASHINGTON STATE VAPERS NEEDED THIS FRIDAY, FEB. 28TH AT 10 AM IN OLYMPIA!

A second hearing on HB 2795 (which, like SB 6595, would tax e-cigarettes at an outrageous 95% of wholesale) will be held Friday morning at 10 AM in a room to be determined at the O'Brien Building at the State House (504 15th Ave SE in Olympia). This hearing will be before the House Finance Committee.

We turned out 70-80 vapers on Wednesday night with only four hours notice. Trust us, the committee members noticed this. If we want to stop this bill, we need a second burst of advocacy ahead of Friday's hearing.

Before Friday's hearing (and especially if you can't make it to Olympia), please make phone calls to the offices of the following State Representatives. Be respectful and brief -- ask to have a message delivered that you are a Washington resident, have been smoke-free for (months or years), and you'd like them to oppose taxes on electronic cigarettes.

These are the representatives that will hear the bill Friday morning, so phone calls to them will make a big difference.

Send a letter in opposition to your legislator here --https://app.leg.wa.gov/pbc/bill/2795

Contact the members of the House Finance Finance Committee

Chair - Rep. Reuven Carlyle (D - Seattle)
(360) 786-7814 / reuven.carlyle@leg.wa.gov

Vice Chair - Rep. Steve Tharinger (D - Sequim)
(360) 786-7904 / steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Kristine Lytton (D - Anacortes)
(360) 786-7800 / kristine.lytton@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Drew Hansen (D - Bainbridge Island)
(360) 786-7842 / drew.hansen@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon (D - Burien)
(360) 786-7952 / fitzgibbon.joe@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Larry Springer (D - Kirkland)
(360) 786-7822 / larry.springer@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Gerry Pollet (D - Seattle)
(360) 786-7886 / gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Chris Reykdal (D - Tumwater)
(360) 786-7940 / chris.reykdal@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Terry Nealey (R - Dayton)
(360) 786-7828 / terry.nealey@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Cary Condotta (R - East Wenatchee)
(360) 786-7954 / cary.condotta@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Brandon Vick (R - Felida)
(360) 786-7850 / brandon.vick@leg.wa.gov

Rep. Ed Orcutt (R - Kalama)
(360) 786-7990 / ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov

Rep. J.T. Wilcox (R - Roy)
(360) 786-7912 / jt.wilcox@leg.wa.gov

Comma delimited list: reuven.carlyle@leg.wa.gov, steve.tharinger@leg.wa.gov, kristine.lytton@leg.wa.gov, drew.hansen@leg.wa.gov, fitzgibbon.joe@leg.wa.gov, larry.springer@leg.wa.gov, gerry.pollet@leg.wa.gov, chris.reykdal@leg.wa.gov, terry.nealey@leg.wa.gov, cary.condotta@leg.wa.gov, brandon.vick@leg.wa.gov, ed.orcutt@leg.wa.gov, jt.wilcox@leg.wa.gov

Remember, if you are in Washington, phone calls are much better than e-mails.

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- - - Updated - - -

Proposed Bill can be seen here:
HB 2795 - 2013-14

 

This has been going around for a while...a little late for us to get the word out unfortunately, the vote is in a few hours. It'd be pretty bad for me and my addiction to Mt. Baker juices, I guess I'm going to have to order some flavoring from them today just to be on the safe side.

 

10am Friday in Washington is 16 hours from now.
Couldn't hurt to shoot off a e-mail.

- - - Updated - - -

ProVape (Provari) is based in Washington also.
Besides that, the decision may set a precedence for other states to follow.

 

I emailed saying that while I'm not a voter, I am a consumer, that the juice I get from Washington State has helped me get off cigarettes, that in the event the tax is imposed I will no longer be able to afford ( my preferred) American made juice and be forced to source it from China.
A drop in the ocean but worth an email
cheers

 

It seems that way because it is. There is no other way they can make up for lost revenue with the eventual and inevitable switch to vaping. The reason more kids are switching to vaping rather than adults isn't because of marketing, its because they aren't stubborn and set in their ways. Vaping is healthier and tasty, smoking is horrible for the smoker and everyone around them. When vaping attains critical mass, there will be a push to get even more restrictive on tobacco, so where do they make up the lost tax dollars? The thing with vaping, the margins are insane. I can make in bulk a 55 gallon (what's that, 210 liters?) drum of e-liquid for probably around $200-$300. Let's high-ball it and say $1000. At $15 for 30ml that brings the retail value to $7000. A 95% tax on wholesale would mean they only get to make $5000 on that liquid. An eGo kit I saw on FastTech, with a replaceable coil clearomizer, came to $6 each. Buy 100, lets say you get the price down to $4. I've seen the same kits in the brick and mortar shops, without replaceable coil, averaging $20. 95% tax on wholesale means they only get to make $12 on each $20 sale. On top of that, cigarette revenue recurs every day, but people don't buy new mods every day, and can trivially make their own liquids. The 95% figure sounds insane, but in the eyes of the government isn't near enough to maintain the status quo.

I expect this to get shot down, but I see them trying out other avenues in the future. A mandatory 5ml bottle size for example, just like the bottle size restrictions on alcohol in many States. Easier to tax that way, just require tax stamps. License distributors. There is quite a bit of tricks up their sleeve, I'd be fine if they did 95% of wholesale and stopped there.

Personally, I'm for a public ban. Especially if they're vaping Halo's Belgian Cocoa. On a beach is kind of stupid, but I don't want someone sitting next to me vaping in a restaurant or at the movies. I don't care if it is perfectly safe, its distracting and annoying. Some of the people I've seen here in Thailand vape openly in the middle of an indoor restaurant, it's just plain rude. It reminds me of the "I'm not touching you" game used to annoy your siblings and parents on a road trip by sticking your hand in their face. I was with a friend at a bar up near Asoke, and due to the protest they wouldn't let us sit outside with beers, said it was a police order or something. The owner said we could vape inside, but I still moved to a table in a corner where it wouldn't bother anybody. If other people could show courtesy like that, it wouldn't have to be legislated. Unfortunately, especially in the States (where I'm from mind you), that is rarely the case.