If you don’t get your bill passed by midnight next Monday, it’s wait ‘til next term.

At the hearing on my bill to make the penalty for the sale of e-cigarettes to minors identical to that for tobacco products, one Senator was concerned that police would be arresting juvenile smokers.

I asked one of our reference librarians to research the question.

These are not arrests; civil citations are issued.

I emailed this information to all of the members of the committee, with a link to a New York Times article today about the “vaping explosion” among high school students. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/02/health/vaping-ecigarettes-addiction-teen.html.

In addition to this digital lobbying, I will talk to two members of the committee and ask them to look out for my bill.

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A lobbyist for a non-profit spoke to me about a Senate bill in my committee.

He wants to amend it.

“Would this be considered a friendly amendment by the Senate?” I asked him.

If not friendly, we agreed, it won’t be offered.

Don’t risk a bill dying because a compromise could not be reached before next Monday midnight.