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H.R. 3942 (116th): Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act

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About the bill

Should a loophole allowing minors to purchase tobacco products online be tightened or closed?

Context

Most states require a minimum age of 18 to purchase or use tobacco products, although 18 states and counting have raised the minimum age to 21. These states cross the political spectrum, including such red states as Arkansas, Texas, and Utah.

However, purchasing e-cigarettes online does not require any age verification under law. This allows for the skirting of state minimum age laws, which is problematic as e-cigarette use among teens reached its highest levels yet in 2018 — and possibly still rising.

What the legislation does

The Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act is bipartisan legislation that would mandate online age verification for sale of any tobacco product, including e-cigarettes. It …

Sponsor and status

Photo of sponsor Rosa DeLauro

Rosa DeLauro

Sponsor. Representative for Connecticut's 3rd congressional district. Democrat.

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Last Updated: Oct 29, 2019
Length: 5 pages
Introduced
Jul 24, 2019
116th Congress (2019–2021)
Status
Enacted Via Other Measures

Provisions of this bill were incorporated into other bills which were enacted.

This bill was incorporated into:

H.R. 133: H.R. 133: Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 [Including Coronavirus Stimulus & Relief]
Enacted — Signed by the President on Dec 27, 2020. (compare text)
Cosponsors

32 Cosponsors (16 Democrats, 16 Republicans)

Source
Congress.gov

History

Jan 10, 2019
 
Final Bill — Passed House (Senate next)

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 133 (116th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on H.R. 3942 (116th).
Jul 24, 2019
 
Introduced

Bills and resolutions are referred to committees which debate the bill before possibly sending it on to the whole chamber.

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Oct 16, 2019
 
Ordered Reported

A committee has voted to issue a report to the full chamber recommending that the bill be considered further. Only about 1 in 4 bills are reported out of committee.

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Oct 28, 2019
 
Passed House (Senate next)

The bill was passed in a vote in the House. It goes to the Senate next. The vote was by voice vote so no record of individual votes was made.

Read Updated Text » See Changes »

Oct 28, 2019
 
Reported by House Committee on the Judiciary

A committee issued a report on the bill, which often provides helpful explanatory background on the issue addressed by the bill and the bill's intentions.

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Jan 15, 2020
 
Final Bill — Passed Senate with Changes (back to House)

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 133 (116th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on H.R. 3942 (116th).
Jul 2, 2020
 
Companion Bill — Passed Senate (House next)

This activity took place on a related bill, S. 1253 (116th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on H.R. 3942 (116th).
Dec 21, 2020
 
Final Bill — Passed House with Changes (back to Senate)

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 133 (116th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on H.R. 3942 (116th).
Dec 27, 2020
 
Final Bill — Enacted — Signed by the President

This activity took place on a related bill, H.R. 133 (116th), possibly in lieu of similar activity on H.R. 3942 (116th).

H.R. 3942 (116th) was a bill in the United States Congress.

A bill must be passed by both the House and Senate in identical form and then be signed by the President to become law.

Bills numbers restart every two years. That means there are other bills with the number H.R. 3942. This is the one from the 116th Congress.

This bill was introduced in the 116th Congress, which met from Jan 3, 2019 to Jan 3, 2021. Legislation not passed by the end of a Congress is cleared from the books.

How to cite this information.

We recommend the following MLA-formatted citation when using the information you see here in academic work:

“H.R. 3942 — 116th Congress: Preventing Online Sales of E-Cigarettes to Children Act.” www.GovTrack.us. 2019. December 9, 2022 <https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/116/hr3942>

Where is this information from?

GovTrack automatically collects legislative information from a variety of governmental and non-governmental sources. This page is sourced primarily from Congress.gov, the official portal of the United States Congress. Congress.gov is generally updated one day after events occur, and so legislative activity shown here may be one day behind. Data via the congress project.