Quantcast

Businesses not on board with bill - 12 News KBMT and K-JAC. News, Weather and Sports for SE Texas

Businesses not on board with bill

Posted: Updated:
BEAUMONT -

A Texas Lawmaker is pushing to up the legal smoking age to 21.    

It's senate bill 313 and it was introduced by State Senator Carlos Uresti, a Democrat from San Antonio. Senator Uresti says 33% of 18, 19, and 20-year-old Texans would never start smoking if its passed.

He says it is his effort to save young Texans from a premature death and adds that there could be an undetermined savings to the state because of reduced healthcare costs. But some businesses in Beaumont say that could hurt their income. 

A spokesperson for the Jerusalem Hookah Cafe says much of the business' clientele are college students age 18 to 20 years old.  Though the loss of business wouldn't shut the cafe down the owner says she would definitely feel the impact.

"It's going slow down businesses, it's going slow down," Owner Mukkarram Ahmed said.
 
People against the bill say if it passes the state budget could lose up to $42 million in taxes over two years. Senator Uresti responded by saying he thinks it's a shame to rely on young adults to balance the budget.

 

Submit a news tip

* denotes required fields

Do you know of something that would be a good news story?  Enter your email address and select "Submit"  to send it to 12 News HD.  You can also call the news tip line at 409-838-1212

Log InNot you? Log out
We're sorry, but only one entry is allowed per person.
Thank you for your continued interest.

Thank you for submitting your news idea to 12News HD!

Powered by WorldNow

Newsroom: (409) 838-1212
Front Desk: (409) 833-7512
News Fax: (409) 981-1564
News Email: 12News@kbmt12.com

Powered by WorldNow
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and KBMT. All Rights Reserved.
For more information on this site, please read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service.