1.1                             A resolution
  1.2             memorializing Congress to amend the Jenkins Act, 
  1.3             Public Law Number 363, 81st Congress, to require any 
  1.4             person who makes or offers to make certain sales or 
  1.5             transfers of tobacco products in interstate commerce 
  1.6             for profit to file information reports with the state 
  1.7             tobacco tax administrator; and, as supported by the 
  1.8             Federation of Tax Administrators, to increase the 
  1.9             penalty from a misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor.  
  1.10     
  1.11     WHEREAS, the United States, through the Jenkins Act, 
  1.12  requires any person who sells or transfers for profit cigarettes 
  1.13  in interstate commerce, whereby such cigarettes are shipped into 
  1.14  a state taxing the sale or use of such cigarettes, to other than 
  1.15  a distributor licensed or located in such state, or who 
  1.16  advertises or offers cigarettes for such a sale or transfer and 
  1.17  shipment, to file information reports with the state tobacco tax 
  1.18  administrator; and 
  1.19     WHEREAS, the majority of the several states tax the sale or 
  1.20  use of tobacco products; and 
  1.21     WHEREAS, the majority of the several states require 
  1.22  persons, including mail-order companies, who sell or transfer 
  1.23  for profit tobacco products in interstate commerce, or who 
  1.24  advertise or offer tobacco products for shipment, to report 
  1.25  monthly to state tax administrators all sales, transfers, or 
  1.26  shipments of tobacco products into the state; and 
  1.27     WHEREAS, the absence of any federal legislation compelling 
  2.1   persons who sell or transfer tobacco products in interstate 
  2.2   commerce, or who advertise or offer tobacco products for 
  2.3   shipment in interstate commerce, to provide information reports 
  2.4   to the states has resulted in noncompliance of these state laws; 
  2.5   and 
  2.6      WHEREAS, it would be of great value to these states and the 
  2.7   tobacco industry as a whole, to prevent the avoidance of state 
  2.8   cigarette and tobacco laws; NOW, THEREFORE, 
  2.9      BE IT RESOLVED by the Legislature of the State of Minnesota 
  2.10  that Congress should speedily enact legislation to amend the 
  2.11  Jenkins Act to provide the same requirement regarding 
  2.12  information reports on the sale or transfer of tobacco products, 
  2.13  or the advertisement or offer of tobacco products for such a 
  2.14  sale or transfer and shipment, as is required for cigarettes. 
  2.15     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that United States Code, title 15, 
  2.16  section 375, be amended to define the term "tobacco product" as 
  2.17  follows:  the term "tobacco product" means cigars; little 
  2.18  cigars; cheroots; stogies; periques; granulated, plug cut, crimp 
  2.19  cut, ready rubbed, and other smoking tobacco; snuff; snuff 
  2.20  flour; cavendish; plug and twist tobacco; fine-cut and other 
  2.21  chewing tobaccos; shorts; refuse scraps, clippings, cuttings, 
  2.22  and sweepings of tobacco; and other kinds and forms of tobacco, 
  2.23  prepared in such a manner as to be suitable for chewing or 
  2.24  smoking in a pipe or otherwise, or both for chewing and smoking; 
  2.25  but shall not include cigarettes. 
  2.26     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that United States Code, title 15, 
  2.27  section 376, be amended so that the same language which refers 
  2.28  to "cigarettes" also refers to "tobacco products." 
  2.29     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that United States Code, title 15, 
  2.30  section 377, be amended so that the penalty is upgraded from a 
  2.31  misdemeanor to a gross misdemeanor. 
  2.32     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of State of the 
  2.33  State of Minnesota is directed to prepare certified copies of 
  2.34  this memorial and transmit them to the President of the United 
  2.35  States, the President and Secretary of the United States Senate, 
  2.36  the Speaker and Chief Clerk of the United States House of 
  3.1   Representatives, and Minnesota's Senators and Representatives in 
  3.2   Congress.