Texas Highlights

While the Texas Legislature did not convene in 2022, the impact of their actions in 2021 began to take shape. Starting January 1, 2022, e-cigarette retailers are required to hold a permit to sell their products. As of August 2022, more than 12,000 e-cigarette retailers have submitted and received permits. The state now has a more comprehensive database of tobacco and e-cigarette retailers, which can be a critical tool for both enforcement of tobacco sales laws and community monitoring of retailers.

Despite the improvements around tobacco and e-cigarette retail licensure, the state significantly cut funding for tobacco enforcement programs, leading to thousands fewer controlled buys on tobacco retailers. Efforts are underway to improve the retailer compliance structure to ensure every tobacco retailer is subject to a compliance check.

The American Lung Association and partners spent 2022 advocating for increased funding for the state’s tobacco control programs, meeting with agency staff and advocating at several public meetings. In late 2022, the Department of State Health Services revealed their proposed budget through the Legislative Appropriations Request. For the first time in several sessions, the request included an increase in tobacco control funds of approximately $3 million annually. The decision on whether to approve these funds now rests with the legislature.

In addition to the state’s spending through the Department of State Health Services, the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas continued to make investments in tobacco prevention. In 2022, more than $5 million in grants went to researchers and programs focused on tobacco prevention and cessation. Since 2009, more than $22 million has been granted to support tobacco prevention efforts through the cancer fighting state agency.

Texas lawmakers have a unique opportunity to take bold action on tobacco in the 2023 legislative session. With an estimated budget surplus of $27 billion, the state must invest more in tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Its current funding ranks Texas near the bottom nationally of per-capita spending on tobacco control and is the key foundation upon which other tobacco prevention and reduction policies are built. Secondly, after two sessions of action on e-cigarette taxes, we urge the legislature to finally pass a robust tax on e-cigarettes, as a percentage of price, and dedicate those funds to tobacco control programs.