Bill: HB 456, 84(R) - 2015

Committee

House Public Education

Companion Bill

SB 96

Vote Recommendation

Vote Recommendation Economic Freedom Property Rights Personal Responsibility Limited Government Individual Liberty
Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral Neutral

Author(s)

Roland Gutierrez

Co-Author(s)

Wayne Faircloth
Jason Villalba

Bill Caption

Relating to a prohibition on the use and possession of e-cigarettes on school property or at school-related or school-sanctioned activities.  

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

No fiscal implication to local governments is anticipated

Bill Analysis

HB 456 would amend the Education Code to prohibit possession and smoking of e-cigarettes on school property and school sanctioned events. This is an addition to the code that already bans tobacco.
 

Vote Recommendation Notes

This bill neither affirms nor abridges the liberty principles upon which we base our vote recommendations, therefore we are neutral on HB 456. 

In general we do not support banning e-cigarettes or regulating them in the same way or to the same degree as tobacco. In our view they are likely a less harmful substitute for tobacco and may be quite helpful for people who want to quit smoking. However we do not believe there is enough information about the use of e-cigarettes and whether they are as harmful as tobacco for the legislature to make a determination either way. Because this bill does not address regulatory issues and merely prevents their use on school grounds or at school functions we have no reason to view this bill as an infringement on issues related to our liberty principles.


Source URL (retrieved on 03/28/2024 05:03 PM): http://reports.texasaction.com/bill/84r/hb456?print_view=true