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Record of Proceedings

Westchester County Joint Legislation and Health Committee Meeting - June 29, 2026

Board of Legislators & CommitteesMonday, June 29, 2026
BodyWestchester County, New York
SessionBoard of Legislators & Committees
DateMonday, June 29, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record

STREAMING COPY IN PREPARATION — RECORDING AVAILABLE FROM THE ORIGINAL SOURCE

Transcript — Verbatim
0:05

This meeting is being recorded and summarized.

0:14

All right, we are ready to get started here.

0:17

Thank you everyone for uh joining us here Monday, June 29th at the one o'clock for our joint committee on legislation and committee on health meeting.

0:30

I'm going to open legislation by taking attendance.

0:34

I'm here.

0:36

Committee vice chair and a more uh board vice chair Clements.

0:42

Minority Leader Crumfield.

0:44

Yep.

0:45

Uh Legislator Barr.

0:47

Legislator Nolan.

0:49

Yeah.

0:49

Legislator Puja.

0:51

Here.

0:52

Legislator Ulai.

0:54

And Chairman Gashi.

0:56

Okay.

0:56

We have a form and we are coming to order at 107.

1:01

Manager of the Club Free.

1:03

Thank you, Mr.

1:04

Chair.

1:05

I'm Jewel Johnson, Chair of the Water Legislative Committee on California.

1:09

Take a sentence to officially start.

1:11

Mark and myself is here.

1:13

Can we vice chair Barr?

1:16

Here.

1:17

Yes, we can here.

1:19

Let's say Magashi.

1:23

We have to open that 107.

1:27

Okay.

1:28

So we have uh a couple of items to discuss and leaving it off is the first joint item, which is a public hearing and a local law that uh has to do with prohibiting the sale of camouflage vaping devices in Westchester County.

1:47

And to discuss those items with us, we have uh members of our uh health department, Dr.

1:55

Amler and uh Susan Garcia.

1:59

Would you like to join us at the people as well as uh members of our uh our great community law department?

2:10

Just if you wouldn't mind stating your name and affiliation for the meeting, Dr.

2:15

Shirley Amler, Mr.

2:16

Fro from Western County.

2:20

I'm Susan Garcio, that's L G U E R C I O, and I'm the Assistant Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs and Compliance.

2:31

Jason Whitehead, Associate County.

2:34

All right, well, thank you all for joining us today.

2:37

And um, I don't know, Jules, did you want to uh lead off with any comments on this?

2:42

Um as many of you know, we've been um reviewing and um deciding the best course on stopping the profusion of flavored tobacco and wage products.

3:05

Um we've discussed it many times at the table here in health committee meetings.

3:09

We discussed it at our board of health meetings and uh uh proposed legislation on the uh flavor tobacco storage meeting for public state law uh a while ago, and that came up uh a couple years ago when we asked the uh flavored tobacco ban that was uh eventually uh vetoed by the county executive.

3:40

So um so now we have this uh legislation uh that's uh the second item on the agenda, and we also have the first item as what Mr.

3:54

Chairman said about the camouflage bill, uh proposed by current county executive against camouflage based in silence as you know maybe you can look like a um CPS board or cigarette lighter or pen or uh anything, but they're actually uh eight products, and I think it's great that it stems from this summit in interim last year to just so I'll see good.

4:30

I'm for anything that can stop our young people using vage products.

4:36

Um I think it's important to note that uh many people, not only young people think that it's less dangerous to use a vape product than another tobacco product, but in fact the opposite is so I'm very um I see Susan and Dr.

4:57

Adler shaking their heads.

5:00

They two uh can safely say feel the same way and I must congratulate um and well I must thank Susan and the uh uh Department of Health staff for their efforts in their uh investigating and violations to this end and I thank the county attorneys just for drafting this legislation.

5:26

We did review both and uh separate health committee meeting a couple of weeks ago.

5:33

So I'm anxious to hear uh what um Justin has to say about what we're looking at today and uh shut up thank you, Madam Chair, and so uh let the law department you wanna I'm gonna defer to Jason since he did the uh lion share of work on the strength.

5:57

So we just as uh we should say we're just trying to um eliminate kids getting children under 21 actually anybody getting these lots of um uh uh uh contraptions, um whether it's uh somebody under 21 or whether somebody over 21, somebody over 21 giving it to somebody who's under 21.

6:21

Um I think the law um goes far enough in terms of restricting things like look like school supplies, personal items like highlighters, USB drives, ballpoint pens, smartphones, uh SOT watches and and the like um and if as we all know New York State does not have a ban on these um these uh items.

6:45

Um so it the law would uh ban any of these items being sold, transferred, given, um, etc.

6:55

And it would also create um a penalty of uh class B misdemeanor.

7:01

Um if any any of these items are sold or transferred, um and it also it it also goes in conjunction with um New York State law.

7:13

Um there's also penalties in New York uh New York public health law, um which uh somebody who sells or transferred will also be subject to.

7:22

Um so uh it's all there in the language.

7:27

Um if you have any other questions from the OC demand.

7:32

There uh there is um one thing that uh we did catch that we need to make uh uh we need to ask committee to make committees we uh in the definition of vapor product, which is um the third page of the law number uh the new new 11.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Health███████████████████████23%
Procedural████████████████████20%
Pending Litigation████████████████████20%
Cannabis Regulation██████████████14%
Personnel Matters████████8%
Public Safety█████5%
Engineering And Infrastructure█████5%
Labor Relations████4%
Animal Welfare1%
Summary of Proceedings

Westchester County Joint Legislation and Health Committee Meeting - June 29, 2026

The joint committee of the Westchester County Board of Legislators (Committees on Legislation and Health) convened on Monday, June 29, 2026, at 1:07 PM in the Michaelian Office Building, White Plains. Legislators participated in person and remotely. The meeting adjourned at 2:29 PM.

Consent Calendar

  • The minutes of the June 1, 2026 meeting were approved unanimously.

Discussion Items

  • Prohibition of Camouflaged Vaping Devices (RES-2026-59 & LL Intro-2026-44): Health Department and Law Department staff presented the legislation. A technical amendment was made to add “as medical marijuana” to the definition of vapor product. Legislator Cunzio raised concerns about enforcement, noting that the law prohibits sale/transfer but not possession, and questioned the effectiveness against internet sales. Health Department representatives stated they have not seen such devices in shops but believe minors obtain them online. The legislation will allow the Health Department to conduct inspections and stings using minors. The resolution and local law were approved unanimously by both committees and referred to the full Board of Legislators.

  • Flavored Nicotine Vapor Products (Items 2026-212 & 2026-213): This legislation establishes a rebuttable presumption that possession of four or more flavored vapor products indicates intent to sell. Discussion focused on defining “packets” versus “products” to align with state law and avoid ambiguity. Legislator Williams Johnson requested inclusion of camouflage vape devices and explicit authority for Health Department staff to inspect storage areas. Law Department advised that storage inspection authority raises broader legal issues and cannot be added to this law; they recommended an executive session to discuss legal advice. The committee went into executive session from 1:34 PM to 1:57 PM. After returning, the items were continued to allow for drafting of revised language addressing camouflage vape products and clarifying the “packets/products” definition.

  • Eliminating the Master Plumber 51% Business Ownership Requirement (RES-2026-62 & LL Intro-2026-295): Law Department explained the rationale: a 2003 Rockland County court decision invalidated a similar ownership requirement, and the current rule has been inconsistently enforced. The proposed law removes the 51% ownership rule but retains the requirement that work be performed under a licensed master plumber. It also changes the plumbing board chair selection from election by members to appointment by the County Executive. Legislator Cunzio questioned the change in chair selection and requested input from Jim Maisano (Consumer Protection Director), who was unavailable. Legislator Imamura asked about litigation risk; no notices of claim have been received. The committee voted to advance the public hearing resolution (RES-2026-62) and continued the local law (LL Intro-2026-295) to allow for further information from the administration.

Key Outcomes

  • Camouflaged Vaping Devices: Resolution and local law approved and referred to the full Board of Legislators. (Vote: 6-0, with 2 absent)
  • Flavored Nicotine Vapor Products: Both items continued; committee to receive revised language for the next meeting.
  • Master Plumber Ownership Requirement: Public hearing resolution passed; local law continued pending further input from the County Executive’s office and the Plumbing Board.
  • Receive & File: Croton-on-Hudson’s 2026 legislative priorities were received and filed. The 2026 Westchester County Animal Abuse Registry was tabled for further discussion at the request of Legislator Cunzio.

Meeting Transcript

This meeting is being recorded and summarized. All right, we are ready to get started here. Thank you everyone for uh joining us here Monday, June 29th at the one o'clock for our joint committee on legislation and committee on health meeting. I'm going to open legislation by taking attendance. I'm here. Committee vice chair and a more uh board vice chair Clements. Minority Leader Crumfield. Yep. Uh Legislator Barr. Legislator Nolan. Yeah. Legislator Puja. Here. Legislator Ulai. And Chairman Gashi. Okay. We have a form and we are coming to order at 107. Manager of the Club Free. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I'm Jewel Johnson, Chair of the Water Legislative Committee on California. Take a sentence to officially start. Mark and myself is here. Can we vice chair Barr? Here. Yes, we can here. Let's say Magashi. We have to open that 107. Okay. So we have uh a couple of items to discuss and leaving it off is the first joint item, which is a public hearing and a local law that uh has to do with prohibiting the sale of camouflage vaping devices in Westchester County. And to discuss those items with us, we have uh members of our uh health department, Dr. Amler and uh Susan Garcia. Would you like to join us at the people as well as uh members of our uh our great community law department? Just if you wouldn't mind stating your name and affiliation for the meeting, Dr. Shirley Amler, Mr. Fro from Western County. I'm Susan Garcio, that's L G U E R C I O, and I'm the Assistant Commissioner for Regulatory Affairs and Compliance. Jason Whitehead, Associate County. All right, well, thank you all for joining us today. And um, I don't know, Jules, did you want to uh lead off with any comments on this? Um as many of you know, we've been um reviewing and um deciding the best course on stopping the profusion of flavored tobacco and wage products. Um we've discussed it many times at the table here in health committee meetings. We discussed it at our board of health meetings and uh uh proposed legislation on the uh flavor tobacco storage meeting for public state law uh a while ago, and that came up uh a couple years ago when we asked the uh flavored tobacco ban that was uh eventually uh vetoed by the county executive. So um so now we have this uh legislation uh that's uh the second item on the agenda, and we also have the first item as what Mr. Chairman said about the camouflage bill, uh proposed by current county executive against camouflage based in silence as you know maybe you can look like a um CPS board or cigarette lighter or pen or uh anything, but they're actually uh eight products, and I think it's great that it stems from this summit in interim last year to just so I'll see good. I'm for anything that can stop our young people using vage products. Um I think it's important to note that uh many people, not only young people think that it's less dangerous to use a vape product than another tobacco product, but in fact the opposite is so I'm very um I see Susan and Dr. Adler shaking their heads. They two uh can safely say feel the same way and I must congratulate um and well I must thank Susan and the uh uh Department of Health staff for their efforts in their uh investigating and violations to this end and I thank the county attorneys just for drafting this legislation. We did review both and uh separate health committee meeting a couple of weeks ago.

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