The Senate passed the Prevent All Cigarette Trafficking (PACT) Act yesterday by unanimous consent. The bill will now go back to the House, which passed a similar version 397-11. The PACT ACT requires Internet sellers of cigarettes and smokeless to do age and ID verification online at purchase and at delivery; makes cigarettes and smokeless nonmailable matter (with some minor sharply restricted exceptions); requires full tax payment to states and localities before delivery; sets high penalties for violations, and puts in place tough enforcement mechanisms states and localities can use. The PACT Act also gives state and local governments direct rights to enforce the Act against illegal Internet sellers in federal court (while protecting State and Tribal sovereignty and immunity rights).
The fact that the PACT Act has passed the Senate unanimously and passed the House 397-11 means it should be a new federal law quite soon. That should be very useful in rebutting the cigarette companies' claim that if states increase their cigarette tax rates smokers will simply go to the Internet to buy tax-free cigarettes. The PACT Act will quickly shut the door on that possibility, thereby protecting and increasing state cigarette tax revenues.
For more on what the PACT Act does, see our factsheet at: http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0361.pdf
For how state and local governments will benefit from the PACT Act, see the factsheet at: http://tobaccofreekids.org/research/factsheets/pdf/0292.pdf
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