Bill Text: NY A04126 | 2025-2026 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires a premises license issued by the department of taxation and finance for businesses retailing certain smoking products and paraphernalia; directs the department to issue regulations.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2025-01-31 - referred to ways and means [A04126 Detail]

Download: New_York-2025-A04126-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                          4126

                               2025-2026 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                    January 31, 2025
                                       ___________

        Introduced by M. of A. GRAY, BLANKENBUSH, LEMONDES, K. BROWN, BEEPHAN --
          read once and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means

        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  tax law, in relation to establishing a physical
          premises license for businesses retailing certain smoking products and
          paraphernalia

          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section  1.  This  act  shall be known and may be cited as the "retail
     2  smoke shop physical premises licensing act".
     3    § 2. The tax law is amended by adding a new article 19-A  to  read  as
     4  follows:
     5                                ARTICLE 19-A
     6     REGULATION OF PREMISES RETAILING SMOKING PRODUCTS AND PARAPHERNALIA
     7  Section 460. Definitions.
     8          461. License.
     9    § 460. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:
    10    1. "Smoking paraphernalia" and "smoking products" shall mean any sili-
    11  cone  or  glass  pipe,  water  pipe, hookah, rolling papers, bowls, vape
    12  pens, dab pen, electric rig, vaporizer or any other device, equipment or
    13  apparatus designed for the inhalation of tobacco or cannabis products.
    14    2. "Smoke shop" shall mean any business that exclusively retails smok-
    15  ing products or smoking paraphernalia, but shall not include a  premises
    16  licensed  to sell cigarettes or tobacco products under article twenty of
    17  this chapter.
    18    § 461. License. 1. (a) On and after January first, two thousand  twen-
    19  ty-seven,  every retail dealer shall publicly display a premises license
    20  from the department in each place of business in  this  state  which  is
    21  operated  as  a smoke shop as defined in this article.  Applications for
    22  licenses shall be made on forms prescribed by the commissioner.
    23    (b) Licenses shall be valid for a calendar year period upon payment of
    24  the fee in an amount determined by the commissioner and must be  renewed

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD08236-01-5
        A. 4126                             2

     1  each year upon payment of such fee. A license shall not be assignable or
     2  transferable.
     3    2.  The  commissioner  shall establish regulations for the issuance of
     4  the premises license required by this article, including but not limited
     5  to requirements concerning the location and operation  of  the  licensed
     6  premises,  proximity  to sensitive areas, such as school zones, etc. and
     7  any related health and safety considerations.
     8    (a) A premises licensed under this  article  shall  be  located  on  a
     9  public thoroughfare which is zoned for commercial premises.
    10    (b) Any entrance for non-proprietor use of the licensed premises shall
    11  be on street level.
    12    (c) Any licensed premises, at any point on the perimeter, shall not be
    13  within  five  hundred  feet  of  the boundary line of a school, daycare,
    14  hospital, nursing home,  substance  rehabilitation  facility,  substance
    15  treatment  centers, detox or recovery homes or centers, support services
    16  locations or church, synagogue or other place of worship.
    17    (d) A licensed premises may only operate between  the  hours  of  nine
    18  o'clock a.m. and ten o'clock p.m.
    19    (e)  No screens, blinds, curtains, or partitions shall be permitted in
    20  the interior of the premises which obstruct either views or movements of
    21  non-proprietors.
    22    3. No person who  has  been  convicted  of  any  offense  involving  a
    23  controlled substance under the penal law, or any violation of the canna-
    24  bis  law,  shall be granted a license under this section. A licensee who
    25  is convicted of a controlled substance offense  or  a  cannabis  offense
    26  shall have their license revoked.
    27    4. The department shall have the authority to inspect any retail prem-
    28  ises to determine compliance with the provisions of this article.
    29    5.  Revenues  generated  from  the  license  fees collected under this
    30  section shall be deposited in the general fund of the state.
    31    § 3. This act shall take effect on the first of January next  succeed-
    32  ing the date on which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately,
    33  the  addition,  amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation neces-
    34  sary for the implementation of  this  act  on  its  effective  date  are
    35  authorized to be made and completed on or before such effective date.