Cigarettes that fizzle a vote away

February 23, 2007
Coos Bay World
By Aaron Clark, Associated Press Writer

SALEM - Firefighters scored a victory Thursday when the House passed a bill requiring all cigarettes sold in Oregon to be fire-safe, made from special paper that will extinguish if left unattended.

Legislators said the bill would save dozens of lives and millions of dollars worth of property. Between 2001 and 2005, 1,500 fires in Oregon were attributed to cigarettes.

“This bill will save lives. It is one of the best votes you will get to vote on this session,” said Rep. Diane Rosenbaum, D-Portland. “We don't need to wait any longer because we know we can pass it.”

The unanimous vote in the Democratic-controlled House stands in contrast to 2005, when a similar bill passed in the Senate but was blocked by Republicans who controlled the House at the time.

The tobacco industry has fought states' efforts to require the fire-safe cigarettes, saying the issue should be dealt with at the federal level.

In Oregon, tobacco companies have spent more than $500,000 during the past several years on campaign contributions and lobbying efforts in the state's Capitol, in attempts to block legislation on topics like fire-safe cigarettes, tobacco tax hikes and making bars and taverns smoke free.

But Democrats said the bill's unanimous passage Thursday suggests smooth sailing on issues that have traditionally fractured the legislature along party lines.

“I think it is a trend,” said House Majority Leader, Dave Hunt, D-Gladstone. “The proof will be as each vote actually comes through, but it increases our resolve to continue to bring bills forward.”

In 2005, former Speaker of the House Karen Minnis was instrumental in blocking a similar fire-safe cigarette bill from a vote because, she said, it would be better if the federal government set uniform standards rather than each state setting their own requirements.

According to the Money in Politics Research Action Project, a campaign finance watchdog, Minnis, R-Wood Village, accepted $15,000 in campaign contributions from tobacco companies in 2004.

But Minnis voted in favor of the legislation this time around. She did not return calls seeking comment about her reversal.

House Republicans said a variety of factors made the bill a slam dunk this year. “It was just as good a bill last time as it was this time, but with different leadership and different priorities and different considerations, bills either get brought in or killed in committee,” said Dennis Richardson, R-Central Point. “It was a good bill that should have been passed sooner.”

The fire-safe cigarette bill requires all cigarettes sold in Oregon to be made from a paper that will extinguish if the cigarette is not being smoked. The paper has special rings of ultra-thin paper that wrap around the cigarette and stop the burning unless the smoker takes regular puffs.

Firefighters have lobbied state lawmakers for years to require fire-safe cigarettes.

The bill now goes to the Senate. If it becomes law, Oregon will join California, Illinois, New York, Vermont, New Hampshire and Canada in requiring tobacco companies to sell only the fire-safe cigarettes. Nineteen other states are considering similar legislation.

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Eds: The bill is House Bill 2163.