Chief Patron: Hogan
Non-Participating Tobacco Manufacturers (language only)

Item 48 #5h

Language
Page 28, after line 36, insert:
"D.1.  The Attorney Geenral shall provide all non-participating manufacturers with the reports of their respective sales in the Commonwealth submitted to the Attorney General or the Tax Commissioner pursuant to statute.  All non-participating manufacturers shall be entitled to submit evidence of errors or inconsistencies in reported sales to the Attorney General for the purposes of determining the amount of excise tax payments or deposits into escrow.  Jurisdiction shall lie with the Circuit Court for the City of Richmond regarding unresolved disputes over the amounts of payment or deposits due from non-participating manufacturers.
D.2.  The Attorney General shall require quarterly escrow payments by tobacco product manufacturers not participating in the Master Settlement Agreement that (i) are new market entrants; (ii) default on any governing provision of the Master Settlement Agreement, including, but not limited to, the making of escrow payments; or (iii) as determined by the Attorney General, pose a risk of not paying escrow in the future, taking into account any factors the Attorney General deems relevant, including the price charged for the tobacco products expected to be insufficient to cover all federal and state obligations, manufacturing costs, and a profit."

Explanation
(This amendment requires the Attorney General to provide tobacco producers that do not participate in the Master Settlement Agreement with reports about their total sales in the Commonwealth for the purposes of making payments or deposits into escrow. The language also states that these manufacturers may submit to the Attorney General any evidence that might point to errors or inconsistencies in the data used to estimate these manufacturers' escrow amounts. The language includes provisions for the requirement of quarterly escrow payments from non-participating manufacturers that are either new to the market, pose a risk for failure to pay, or may be unable to meet all federal and state obligations after paying manufacturing costs and profit.)