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A bill co-sponsored by a Las Cruces state representative during the 2020 New Mexico legislative session could help in the fight against COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
The Tobacco Products Act, which state Rep. Joanne Ferrary, D-Las Cruces, co-sponsored in the state House of Representatives, “adds state licensure of in-state manufacturing, distribution or retail sale of tobacco products to the existing provisions on sales to minor(s) and e-cigarettes and liquid nicotine containers, effective July 1,” according to a state Legislative Finance Committee impact report on the bill.
The bill defines a minor as anyone under age 21.
The new law “will also help people who have predisposition for lung problems,” said Ferrary, who was first elected in 2016 and re-elected in 2018. It will mean “people with asthma or any other type of respiratory problems (are better) able to fight any kind of corona virus that might attack their system,” she said. It will also reduce underage smoking, Ferrary said.
The New Mexico Department of Health (NMDOH) said the greatest health impact from the act “will come from reducing legal and social access to tobacco products by youth and young adults.”
Another new law that came from a bill sponsored by Ferrary is the Pet Food Fee for Neutering and Sheltering. The bill “creates a new spay and neuter program fee in the Commercial Feed Act to be
collected by NMDA on each brand name of commercial feed distributed in New Mexico for pet
consumption,” according to an LFC analysis of the bill.
The fee won’t deter the sales of pet food or pet owners’ ability to feed their pets, Ferrary said, but it will generate money for spay and neuter clinics around the state.
A total of 13,300 pet food and pet treat labels were registered with New Mexico Department of Agriculture in 2019, the LFC analysis said. Based on that figure and the bill’s graduated fee schedule, estimated revenues would from the new fee would be approximately $657,850 in FY21, $986,775 in FY22 and $1,315,700 in FY23.
