An Act To Exempt Electronic Smoking Devices Or Other Tobacco Products Containing Ingestible Hemp From The Tax Imposed On Tobacco Products

132nd Legislature (2025-2026) Introduced by Donna Bailey and 9 co-sponsors

Would exempt electronic smoking devices and ingestible hemp/CBD products from Maine's tobacco tax, reducing state revenue and affecting retailers and consumers.

Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD)

#cannabis #medicalcannabis #study

Summary — LD 1960 (132nd Maine Legislature)

Title: An Act To Exempt Electronic Smoking Devices Or Other Tobacco Products Containing Ingestible Hemp From The Tax Imposed On Tobacco Products
Bill No.: LD 1960
Sponsor: Sen. Talbot Ross (Cumberland)
Introduced: May 7, 2025
Committee: Taxation (referred from Veterans and Legal Affairs)
Subject areas: Cannabis / Hemp, Taxation, Study
Status: Placed in Legislative Files (DEAD) — 06/18/2025

Purpose / Intent

LD 1960 would have created a tax exemption so that electronic smoking devices and other tobacco products that contain ingestible hemp (including cannabidiol/CBD derived from hemp) would not be subject to the state tobacco products tax. The intent was to treat certain hemp-derived consumable products delivered via tobacco-product-like devices differently for tax purposes.

Key provisions

Exempts from the Maine tobacco products tax: electronic smoking devices and other tobacco products that contain ingestible consumer products containing hemp or cannabidiol derived from hemp.

Applies to products sold or distributed in forms associated with electronic smoking devices or other tobacco product delivery systems.

Bill language was amended during committee and in the Senate (Committee Amendment A / Senate Amendment A); subsequent amendments affected fiscal analyses (see Fiscal Impact).

Who would be affected

Retailers, distributors and manufacturers of electronic smoking devices and tobacco-style products that deliver ingestible hemp/CBD.

Consumers purchasing those products (price effects may result from tax change).

State and local government revenue streams (see Fiscal Impact).

Maine Revenue Services (for implementation and administration of the tax change, if enacted).

Fiscal impact

Two different fiscal notes appear in the legislative file:
- Preliminary and committee-amended fiscal notes (approved 05/28/2025) estimated revenue decreases to the General Fund of:
- FY2025‑26: $44,400
- FY2026‑27: $91,300
- FY2027‑28: $95,800 (projection)
- FY2028‑29: $100,700 (projection)
- Small corresponding decreases to the Local Government Fund ($100 in FY25‑26; $200 in FY26‑27 and later projections).
- A later fiscal note for a Senate amendment (approved 06/13/2025) states: "No fiscal impact."
(The record indicates the amendment(s) changed the bill in a way that the later fiscal note treated as having no fiscal effect.)

Legislative action / timeline (selected)

05/07/2025: Introduced and referred.

05/22/2025: Taxation Committee work session; committee issued divided report.

06/03/2025: Committee Amendment A adopted in Senate; bill passed to be engrossed as amended by suspension of rules.

06/04/2025: House accepted the Minority "Ought Not to Pass" report (motion failed to accept Majority OTP-AM).

06/17–06/18/2025: Multiple Senate and House motions, non‑concurrences, and votes; final House vote rejecting concurrence (Roll Call No. 572: Yeas 38 — Nays 110).

06/18/2025: House insisted on acceptance of the Minority Ought Not to Pass; Senate insisted on passage as amended; on that date the bill was placed in the legislative files (DEAD).

Notes

The bill’s classification and documents identify it primarily as a taxation change affecting hemp-derived ingestible products delivered via tobacco-product devices.

Although initial fiscal estimates indicated modest revenue losses, a later fiscal note tied to a Senate amendment reported no fiscal impact. The bill did not become law.