In response to a reporting requirement in the 2014-15 budget, the Board of Equalization (BOE) submitted a report to the Legislature on March 9. This report describes eleven options for future funding of the Cigarette and Tobacco Licensing Program---part of the state's enforcement efforts related to cigarette and tobacco taxes. Many of these options came from an October 2014 stakeholder meeting organized by BOE.
Today two Assembly committees---the Committee on Revenue and Taxation and Budget Subcommittee No. 4 on State Administration---held a joint hearing that covered many issues related to BOE's budget. At the hearing, our office provided an overview of BOE's cigarette and tobacco programs and a description of the reporting requirement that emerged from last year's budget hearings.