More than 600 Indian American convenience store and gas station owners rallied at the California State Capitol in Sacramento June 28 to protest SB 1400, a bill which would have limited sales of cigarettes and other tobacco products only to smoke shops.
SB 1400 – authored by California state Senator Bob Wiecowski, a Democrat who represents Fremont – was passed by the state Senate on June 2. The bill then went on to the state Assembly’s Business and Professions committee where it was heard June 28, but failed to secure enough votes to pass.
Jivtesh Gill, founding board member of the American Petroleum and Convenience Store Association, which organized the protest, told India-West that the bill was a major threat to the livelihoods of thousands of Indian Americans who live in California. “This bill would have put at least half of California’s convenience stores out of business,” he said, adding that store employees – largely newer immigrants – would also lose their jobs.
More than 33,000 convenience stores and gas station marts operate throughout the state, with estimated revenue of $40 billion. About two-thirds of such stores are owned by Indian Americans and other Asian Americans, according to Gill. Tobacco sales account for roughly 25 to 30 percent of sales, said Gill, noting that the bill would limit sales of tobacco to stores that generate more than 60 percent of their annual revenue from tobacco.
Wiecowski has said his legislation was an attempt to keep tobacco out of the hands of children, and noted that minors can only enter smoke shops when accompanied by an adult
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