Bill calls for self-extinguishing cigarettes

Two senators introduced similar bills to the Nebraska Legislature's General Affairs Committee Monday, both aimed at reducing accidental fire deaths caused by cigarettes.

Both pieces of legislation would adopt a Reduced Cigarette Ignition Propensity Act, requiring cigarettes sold in Nebraska to be reduced ignition propensity cigarettes.

Those cigarettes include two or three "speed bumps" – bands of thinner paper in the cigarette – that work to lower the temperature and reduce the chances that an unattended cigarette will light something else on fire, said Sen. Abbie Cornett, who introduced LB404.

The main differences between the two bills are how much they want to charge for a company to become certified, and how much they want to charge for breaking the law.

There were no opposition or neutral testimonies at Monday's hearing, but half a dozen people came out in support of the bill, along with a letter of support from the American Lung Association.

"Shouldn't we make the risk less if there is the technology to do so?" said Ruth Albrecht, the burn education program coordinator at St. Elizabeth Regional Medical Center who testified in support of the legislation. "Doesn't it make sense to make the habit safer for them (smokers) and those around them?"

New York was the first state to adopt cigarette propensity legislation, and since their law went into effect in 2004 35 other states and the District of Colombia have adopted similar restrictions.

Both proposed bills require cigarette manufacturers to make cigarettes that meet safety standards laid out in New York's legislation.

The Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters Association worked on a similar bill last year that did not pass. They ran up against the end of the legislative session, said Jerry Stilmoch, registered lobbyist for NSVFA, and did not have enough time to work out a compromise on certification fees and penalties for cigarette manufacturers.

Cigarette companies weren't quite ready for the legislation last year, said Jim Moylan, a lobbyist for Reynolds American, a company that manufactures cigarettes. At the hearing, he brought a compromise between the two bills, which changed most fees to halfway between the proposed fee in each bill.

Moylan stressed that Reynolds is for fire safety, but suggested that Nebraska hold off on legislation regulating cigarette propensity. If Nebraska just waited a few years, he said, most states would have already banned regular cigarettes, so companies would pretty much exclusively manufacture reduced propensity cigarettes already.

This would save Nebraska the time and money it would take to set up and fund a bureaucratic process to regulate the certification process, he said.

Sen. Arnie Stuthman, who introduced LB198, disagreed with this suggestion after the hearing.

"I absolutely do not think sitting on this bill should be an option," said legislative aide Kurt Bulgrin on behalf of Sen. Stuthman. "For me, this bill is about safety. The sooner this bill is passed, the sooner safer cigarettes will be sold in this state."

jennagibson@dailynebraskan.com