An Act To Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use with Adequate Funding and by Raising the Tax on Tobacco Products
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1028
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: McCREIGHT, CHIPMAN, GROHOSKI, KESCHL, TERRY, TIPPING, CYRWAY, MOORE, ROSEN
Amends: 36 MRSA §4365, 36 MRSA §4365-F, 36 MRSA §4365-G, 36 MRSA §4366-A, 36 MRSA §4401, 36 MRSA §4403

Legislative Document
No. 1028
H.P. 758
House of Representatives, February 28, 2019
An Act To Prevent and Reduce Tobacco Use with Adequate 
Funding and by Raising the Tax on Tobacco Products
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative McCREIGHT of Harpswell.
Cosponsored by Senator CHIPMAN of Cumberland and
Representatives: GROHOSKI of Ellsworth, KESCHL of Belgrade, TERRY of Gorham, 
TIPPING of Orono, Senators: CYRWAY of Kennebec, MOORE of Washington, ROSEN of 
Hancock, SANBORN, L. of Cumberland.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §4365, as amended by PL 2005, c. 457, Pt. AA, §1 and affected 
by §8, is further amended to read:
§4365.  Rate of tax
A tax is imposed on all cigarettes imported into this State or held in this State by any 
person for sale at the rate of 100 175 mills for each cigarette.  Payment of the tax is 
evidenced by the affixing of stamps to the packages containing the cigarettes.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §4365-F, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 457, Pt. AA, §3 and 
affected by §8, is repealed.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §4365-G is enacted to read:
§4365-G.  Application of cigarette tax rate increase effective November 1, 2019
The following provisions apply to cigarettes held for resale on November 1, 2019.
1.  Stamped rate.  Cigarettes stamped at the rate of 100 mills per cigarette and held 
for resale after October 31, 2019 are subject to tax at the rate of 175 mills per cigarette.
2.  Liability.  A person possessing cigarettes for resale is liable for the difference 
between the tax rate of 175 mills per cigarette and the tax rate of 100 mills per cigarette in 
effect before November 1, 2019.  Stamps indicating payment of the tax imposed by this 
section must be affixed to all packages of cigarettes held for resale as of November 1, 
2019, except that cigarettes held in vending machines as of that date do not require that 
stamp.
3.  Vending machines.  Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, it is 
presumed that all cigarette vending machines are filled to capacity on November 1, 2019, 
and the tax imposed by this section must be reported on that basis.  A credit against this 
inventory tax must be allowed for cigarettes stamped at the rate of 175 mills per cigarette 
placed in vending machines before November 1, 2019.
4.  Payment.  Payment of the tax imposed by this section must be made to the 
assessor by January 1, 2020, accompanied by forms prescribed by the assessor.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §4366-A, sub-§2, ¶D, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §93, is 
further amended to read:
D.  For stamps at the face value of 100 175 mills, the discount rate is 1.15% 0.65%.
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §4401, sub-§9, as amended by PL 2005, c. 627, §4, is repealed 
and the following enacted in its place:
9.  Tobacco product.  "Tobacco product" has the same meaning as in Title 22, 
section 1551, subsection 3 but does not include products that are subject to the tax under 
chapter 703.
Sec. 6.  36 MRSA §4403, sub-§1, as repealed and replaced by PL 2009, c. 213, 
Pt. H, §1 and affected by §3, is repealed.
Sec. 7.  36 MRSA §4403, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 627, §8, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Tobacco products.  A tax is imposed on cigars, pipe tobacco and other tobacco 
intended for smoking products at the rate of 20% 81%, subject to adjustment under 
subsection 5, of the wholesale sales price beginning October 1, 2005 November 1, 2019.
Sec. 8.  36 MRSA §4403, sub-§5 is enacted to read:
5.  Equivalence.  If the tax on cigarettes under chapter 703 is increased after 
November 1, 2019, the assessor shall calculate a rate of tax on other tobacco products 
under subsection 2 that is equivalent to the same percentage change in the tax rate for one 
cigarette.  The adjusted rates calculated by the assessor take effect at the same time as the 
increase in the tax on cigarettes.
Sec. 9.  Appropriations and allocations.  The following appropriations and 
allocations are made.
ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF THE
Human Services Division 0696
Initiative: Appropriates funds for tobacco enforcement activities.
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Maine Center for Disease Control and Prevention 0143
Initiative: Appropriates funds for tobacco use prevention and cessation.
GENERAL FUND
2019-20
2020-21
All Other
$250,000
$250,000
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$250,000
$250,000
ATTORNEY GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF 
THE
DEPARTMENT TOTALS
2019-20
2020-21
GENERAL FUND
$250,000
$250,000
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS
$250,000
$250,000
Medical Care - Payments to Providers 0147
Initiative: Appropriates funds for tobacco use cessation medications and counseling 
provided to MaineCare members.
Sec. 10.  Effective date.  Those sections of this Act that amend the Maine Revised 
Statutes, Title 36, section 4365, section 4366-A, subsection 2, paragraph D and section 
4403, subsection 2; that repeal Title 36, section 4365-F and section 4403, subsection 1; 
that enact Title 36, section 4365-G and section 4403, subsection 5; and that repeal and 
replace Title 36, section 4401, subsection 9 take effect November 1, 2019.
SUMMARY
This bill increases the cigarette tax from $2.00 to $3.50 per pack of 20 cigarettes and 
increases the tax on all other tobacco products including electronic cigarettes to 81% of 
the wholesale sales price, beginning November 1, 2019.  The bill provides that, if the tax 
on cigarettes is increased on or after November 1, 2019, the tax on all other tobacco 
products will be adjusted by a rate that is equivalent to the percentage change in the tax 
rate for one cigarette.  The bill provides ongoing funding, $11,100,000 per year, to the 
GENERAL FUND
2019-20
2020-21
All Other
$11,100,000
$11,100,000
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$11,100,000
$11,100,000
GENERAL FUND
2019-20
2020-21
All Other
$1,000,000
$750,000
GENERAL FUND TOTAL
$1,000,000
$750,000
HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 
DEPARTMENT OF
DEPARTMENT TOTALS
2019-20
2020-21
GENERAL FUND
$12,100,000
$11,850,000
DEPARTMENT TOTAL - ALL FUNDS
$12,100,000
$11,850,000
SECTION TOTALS
2019-20
2020-21
GENERAL FUND
$12,350,000
$12,100,000
SECTION TOTAL - ALL FUNDS
$12,350,000
$12,100,000
Department of Health and Human Services, Maine Center for Disease Control and 
Prevention for tobacco use prevention and cessation in order to align with the United 
States Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention recommendations.  The bill also provides $1,000,000 in fiscal year 2019-20 
and $750,000 thereafter for MaineCare members for tobacco use cessation medications 
and counseling.  Finally, the bill provides $250,000 per year in ongoing funding to the 
Attorney General's office for increased tobacco enforcement activities.