S. 1415 attempts to ensure state compliance with a law prohibiting the sale of tobacco products to minors. Section 213 of the bill (as reported by the Commerce Committee) requires a state to conduct at least 250 random, unannounced inspections of retailers for every 1 million residents, every year. Thus, a middle-sized state like Missouri would have to conduct 1,350 inspections each year. These inspections must be conducted monthly, must cover a range of retailers, and the sample must reflect the distribution of the under-18 population and the distribution of the retailers accessible to youth.

Further, states each year must submit reports to the Federal Government detailing their attempts and successes under this mandate, including a full description of how the inspections were conducted. Success is defined as a state being able to report that fewer than 5 percent of minors who attempted to purchase tobacco products were successful. If a state does not conduct the required inspections and file the required report, then the Secretary of Health and Human Services can withhold up to 5 percent of block grant money that otherwise would be available for complying states and retailers (see Sections 211, 212) under this bill.

The bill does not provide any up-front money for states to conduct these mandatory inspections. Thus, it appears that even if states fully comply with these inspection mandates, and even if they are able to report fewer than 5 percent of minors who attempted to purchase tobacco products were successful, there is no guarantee the grant money provided will meet or exceed the costs of the inspections. Further, the bill requires that half of the money received goes to retailers who have outstanding compliance records.