1. Age to purchase tobacco in New York increases to 21
2. Local Roundup
3. Take our newest Learning Journey — describing American government

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Age to purchase tobacco in New York increases to 21

The United States House Energy and Commerce Committee approved a bill Tuesday that would ban the sale of flavored tobacco products and increase the minimum age to 21 to buy tobacco nationwide. Meanwhile, 18 states have enacted laws since 2015 to increase the minimum age to purchase tobacco. 

New York’s age requirement to buy tobacco increased from 18 to 21 last week when a bill signed in July by Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) took effect. This legislation passed the state Assembly by a 120-26 vote and passed the state Senate, 52-9.

New York is among eight states with a Democratic trifecta to pass a tobacco age increase. Four states passed a tobacco age increase under a Republican trifecta, and six passed a tobacco age increase under divided government. Nine Democratic governors—including Cuomo—and eight Republican governors have signed tobacco age increases into law. One state—Maine—passed its tobacco age restriction over a veto by Gov. Paul LePage (R).

The increase means that there are now 16 states where the minimum age to purchase or use tobacco is 21, comprising 49% of the U.S. population. Three states have a minimum age of 19 and the remaining 31 have a minimum age of 18. The next state where the minimum age to buy tobacco will rise is Washington, where the age will increase from 18 to 21 on January 1, 2020.

Five more facts about the history of tobacco age regulations in the United States: 

• The first age limit to buy tobacco in U.S. history was imposed in 1883 in New Jersey and set a minimum age of 16. 

• By 1920, 46 states had implemented an age limit for tobacco sales, of which 14 set the limit at 21. 

• During the 1920s and 30s, many states with age restrictions of 21 lowered the age to buy tobacco, often to 18. 

• At the turn of the 21st century, three states—Alabama, Alaska, and Utah—had a tobacco age limit of 19 and the remaining 47 had a minimum age of 18. 

• Hawaii was the first state to raise the age to buy tobacco to 21 this century, enacting its increase in June 2015.

Learn more        

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Local Roundup 

Here’s our weekly summary of the local election results we’re covering…and which you may have missed. And please feel free to email me to suggest some interesting local election coverage in your area—I’d love to hear about it! 

New Orleans ballot measures 

Voters in New Orleans approved three ballot measures and rejected one in the statewide general election Nov. 16. All four measures were referred to the ballot by the New Orleans City Council.

Voters approved:

• A tax measure that authorized an additional 6.75% tax on the rent or fee charged for short-term rentals to raise revenue for infrastructure improvements and a fund to promote tourism in New Orleans. The funds to promote tourism would be allocated to New Orleans & Company, formerly the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau.

• A measure that amended the city charter to create a local Human Rights Commission. The city’s Human Relations Commission—created in the early 1990s—did not have the powers granted by the state to local human rights commissions because it wasn’t added to the city charter.

• A measure that authorized New Orleans to issue up to $500 million in bonds to fund what the measure described as: infrastructure improvements, public buildings, affordable housing, recreational facilities, public safety equipment, and all necessary land and equipment for said improvements.

Voters rejected a measure that would have authorized a special tax of $3.00 per $1,000 of assessed value of all taxable property for twenty years to help fund infrastructure repairs and purchase equipment, software, and technology for the city. City officials estimated the tax would have generated about $10.5 million in revenue each year. Officials from the New Orleans police and fire departments supported the measure.

Colorado local ballot measures

Colorado voters decided eight local ballot measures—in Denver, Colorado Springs, Arapahoe County, and Douglas County—on Nov. 5. Seven were approved and one was defeated.

• All four Denver measures were approved, including one to create a Department of Transportation and Infrastructure in the city and a measure that establishes residency requirements for elected officials. All of the measures received at least 75% of the vote.

• In Colorado Springs, Ballot Issue 2B and 2C were both approved. Ballot Issue 2B authorizes the city to retain $7 million in surplus revenue for the improvement of parks and recreational facilities rather than refunding it to taxpayers as required by law. Ballot Issue 2C renewed a sales tax used to fund road repairs and decreases the rate of the tax from 0.62% to 0.57%.

• Voters in Douglas County approved Ballot Issue 1A that extends a 0.13% sales tax for 15 years to fund transportation infrastructure.

• Voters in Arapahoe County defeated Ballot Issue 1A. The measure would have authorized an additional property tax of $3.40 per $1,000 in assessed property value to fund public safety services.

Take our newest Learning Journey — describing American government

We’re excited to announce another in our series of Learning Journeys, and this one is about the terms that are often used to describe our system of government. 

Ballotpedia has teamed up with the Center for Free, Fair, and Accountable Democracy for a Learning Journey on “liberal, republican democracy.” When discussing our system of government, the terms “democracy,” “republic,” “republican,” and “liberal” can at times be a source of disagreement and conflict. Understanding these definitions is essential for understanding our form of government. This short Learning Journey will help you sort things out.

If you’ve never taken a Learning Journey, it works like this. Each day, we’ll send you an email with information, examples, and exercises to help you understand the concept. Along the way, you’ll be able to contact us with any questions and comments you may have.

The Center for Free, Fair, and Accountable Democracy provides nonpartisan civic education for adults age 18 and above, focused on the benefits of representative democracy, the foundations of trust in representative democracy, and the role of citizens in defending their democracies.

Get started today→

1. A summary of this fall’s top 10 elections
2. State legislators in California, New York receive the highest salaries
3. Biden leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for 4th straight week

A summary of this fall’s top 10 elections 

Before the November elections, Ballotpedia compiled a list of the top 10 races to watch in 2019, including races for state executive and legislative offices, municipal elections, and statewide ballot measures. Here’s a quick summary of what happened in those elections. 

• Kentucky Attorney General Andy Beshear (D) defeated Gov. Matt Bevin (R) and John Hicks (L) in the state’s gubernatorial election. Beshear’s victory means that Kentucky will go from a Republican trifecta to divided government.

• Mississippi Lt. Gov. Tate Reeves (R) defeated state Attorney General Jim Hood (D), Bob Hickingbottom (Constitution), and David Singletary (I) to become governor of Mississippi. Reeves’ win and Republican victories in the state House and Senate preserved the state’s Republican trifecta.

• Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) defeated businessman Eddie Rispone (R) in the general election for governor on Nov. 16. Republicans held onto majorities in the state House and Senate, meaning that the state will remain under divided government. 

• Democrats flipped control of the Virginia state legislature. After new members are sworn in, Democrats will have a 21-19 majority in the state Senate and a 55-45 majority in the House of Delegates. Heading into the election, Republicans held a majority in both chambers. Democrats will have a state government trifecta in Virginia, as Gov. Ralph Northam (D) was not up for election.

• Seattle voters elected city council members in seven districts. Three incumbents ran for re-election, and all three won. Five of the seven council races were won by candidates supported by two political action committees—Civic Alliance for a Progressive Economy (CAPE) and UNITE HERE!, which is affiliated with labor groups. 

• Colorado voters defeated Proposition CC, which would have allowed the state to retain revenue it was, at the time of the election, required to refund under the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights (TABOR). 

• A majority of Pennsylvania electors voted to approve the Pennsylvania Marsy’s Law Crime Victims Rights Amendment. This was a measure to amend the state Constitution to guarantee victims of crimes 15 specific rights. However, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court enjoined the secretary of state from certifying election results, pending a court ruling on whether the amendment violates the state constitution’s requirement that separate amendments receive separate votes.

• Texas voters approved Proposition 4—a measure to amend the Texas Constitution to prohibit the state from levying an income tax. 

• Incumbent Mayor Sylvester Turner and former Texas A&M Board of Regents member Tony Buzbee advanced to a Dec. 14 runoff election for mayor of Houston.

Learn more        

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State legislators in California, New York receive the highest salaries 

There are 7,383 state legislators across all 50 states and the amount each is paid varies from state to state. 

State legislators in California earn the highest base salary among legislators in all 50 states—making $110,459 per year. New Mexico state legislators do not earn a base salary. The March 2019 figures come from survey data collected by the National Conference of State Legislators.

The states with the highest base salaries for state legislators are:

• California: $110,459

• New York: $110,000

• Pennsylvania: $87,180

• Michigan: $71,685

• Illinois: $67,836

The states with the lowest base salaries for state legislators are:

• New Mexico: $0 per year

• New Hampshire: $200 per two-year term

• Texas: $7,200 per year

• South Carolina: $10,400 per year

• South Dakota: $11,379 per year

The legislators in the five highest-paying states work approximately full-time, while legislators in the lowest-paying states work part-time, or in-between part-time and full-time. Forty-three states also pay legislators a per diem or reimburse certain expenses on days the legislature is in session. Many states tie per diem pay to the federal rate set by the U.S. General Services Administration.

Nineteen states use a commission of some kind to determine the salary of legislators. The powers of these commissions vary from non-binding recommendations to reports that are implemented unless either voted down by the legislature, not approved by the governor, or overturned by citizen referenda. Some states tie legislators’ salaries to those of other state employees while other states allow the legislators themselves to set their own salaries.

Biden leads Democratic presidential candidates in Ballotpedia pageviews for 4th straight week

As we previewed yesterday, 10 Democratic presidential candidates will debate tonight in Atlanta. MSNBC and The Washington Post are hosting the debate beginning at 9 p.m. ET. It will be broadcast by MSNBC and streamed on MSNBC.com, washingtonpost.com, and NBC News’ and The Washington Post’s mobile apps.

We track and report the number of views candidates’ 2020 presidential campaign pages receive to show who is getting our readers’ attention. 

For the week ending Nov. 16, Joe Biden’s campaign page on Ballotpedia received 2,448 views, more than any other Democratic candidate. This was the fourth consecutive week Biden’s page received the most pageviews among the Democratic field. Andrew Yang’s page had the second-most pageviews during this week and Elizabeth Warren’s page was third.

The only Democratic candidate to receive more pageviews last week than the week before was Tom Steyer, whose pageviews increased by 11.2%.

Yang remains the leader in overall pageviews among Democratic presidential candidates in 2019 with 141,319. He is followed by Pete Buttigieg, Biden, Kamala Harris, and Warren.

See the full data on all presidential candidates by clicking the link below.