ALBANY - A proposal from the Albany County Legislature would cut the number of licensed tobacco retailers in the county by more than half over the next several years.
The Quit Using Inhalants & Tobacco, or QUIT Act, is meant to limit the number of tobacco retailers and smoke shops in the county, especially those near schools. The legislation does not apply to marijuana retailers. In a separate move, the Legislature may also ban the sale of vaping products that are packaged to look like common school supplies.
Elected officials and anti-tobacco advocates announced the legislation and a $150,000 initiative to develop anti-smoking and anti-vaping programs in local schools during a news conference earlier this month. The two pieces of legislation have not yet been discussed or voted on in any of the Legislature's committees.
Legislature Chair Joanne Cunningham compared the licensing proposal to the state's permit system for retail tobacco sales.
"What we want to do is make sure these shops, and any new licensure, occurs for shops that are more than 1,000 feet away from a school," she said during a news conference to introduce the legislation.
The two pieces of legislation are an effort to continue to reduce youth smoking, especially the use of e-cigarettes and vaping products.
The 2023 National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 10 percent of middle school and high school students reported using a tobacco product within the past 30 days. That was down from 14 percent in the prior year. For those students that had ever used an e-cigarette, more than 46 percent reported they were currently using, which suggests many children who try e-cigarettes get hooked on the products, according to the survey.
Deputy Chair Wanda Willingham said in a statement earlier this month that legislators were responding to concerns from educators about an increase in students using vapes that look like common school supplies, such as highlighters and USB drives.
"With various temptations that our kids face, we cannot allow hazardous vaping items camouflaged as school supplies," she said. "We are firm on this stance."
The licensing legislation is receiving pushback from convenience store owners who are worried the proposal would be detrimental to retailers and drive customers to stores in neighboring counties.
Alison Ritchie, president of the New York Association of Convenience Stores, called the licensing proposal, "short-sighted" and said retailers are also concerned about the loss of revenue from other items customers might normally purchase while buying tobacco products.
Ritchie said the association fully supports legislation that would crack down on illegal flavored e-cigarette sales.
She also expressed concern about the method the legislation proposes that would require applying for an annual license. If more retailers apply for licenses than the county has available to award, the retailers will be placed into a lottery system.
"Planning your business based on whether or not you're going to get your tobacco license is a nightmare for anybody," she said. "You can't do business that way."
Ritchie said there were other counties in the state that require retailers to get a tobacco license, but none of those counties were as restrictive as Albany County's proposal.
Christian King, the board chair for the convenience store association, said for the convenience store industry, tobacco and vaping product sales make up about 30 percent of a business's revenue. If the legislation passes as it currently stands, the value of those stores would plummet and be difficult to sell to new owners, King said.
King owns two stores in Albany County, one on Western Avenue near the University at Albany campus and the other on Route 7 near the Albany International Airport.
"I mean, it's a massive component of our business," he said. "I think they're barking up the wrong tree here."
The proposed legislation would create a licensing system that requires retailers to apply for an annual license and pay a $240 licensure fee. The licenses would not be transferable, and a separate license would be required for each business a company owns.
If the legislation passes, starting in January 2025, the Albany County Department of Health would take applications from the 318 tobacco retailers in Albany County that already possess valid tobacco or vaping device certification of registration from the state Department of Taxation and Finance.
The following year, the department would issue one renewal to eligible retailers for every two that are not renewed. The goal is to reach a floor of 150 retail tobacco licenses, according to the legislation.
The legislation lays out three priority levels for those license renewals.
If the number of renewal requests exceeds the number of available licenses, the department will prioritize licenses for retailers with a shop that sits at least 1,000 feet from a school and don't seek a renewed license for a shop they also own that sits within that 1,000-foot boundary. If there are more valid applications than the number of available licenses, the department will select winners via a lottery.
The second priority level is for retailers whose business sits 1,000 feet or more from a school. A lottery system will also be used if the number of applicants exceeds the number of available licenses.
The third level is for any business that only allows people over the age of 21 to enter, who sells a product covered under the legislation.
Minority Leader Frank Mauriello said his conference supports efforts to reduce tobacco and vaping use by children.
"However, there are many serious questions about the efficacy of this bill as well as its unintended consequences for small businesses, public safety and the local economy of Albany County," he said in a statement.