Local Assembly Rep. Jesse Kremer (R-Kewaskum) and District 8 Washington County Supervisor Ron Naab have successfully worked on legislation that’s moving to the governor’s desk.
The bill is designed to ban the sale of novelty lighters to minors. It was introduced by State Sen. Julie Lassa (D-Stevens Point) and approved unanimously by the Senate this week.
The measure is headed to the Assembly, where a companion bill has already been passed out of committee. A passing vote in that chamber would send the bill to the Governor for his signature.
The bill would make it illegal to sell novelty lighters to minors and prohibits the display for retail sale of these lighters in an area of a retail establishment that is accessible to the general public.
Lassa introduced the proposal at the request of Pittsville Fire Chief Jerry Minor and a group of Pittsville elementary school students after one of their classmates was killed in a house fire where the cause was possibly due to a novelty lighter.