He voted for the amendments after noting that the US Food and Drug Administration is studying federal regulation of e-cigarettes.
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In California, 178 local communities have responded to the risks e-cigarettes pose by limiting their use through local licenses or treating them as tobacco products.
Advocates for electronic cigarettes celebrated outside the Capitol after the vote.
California has traditionally been on the forefront of smoking bans nationwide, and lawmakers in the Golden State are now considering to go as far as to expel even e-cigarettes from restaurants and bars. He says his bill is needed to keep up with the cost of living and help low-wage workers make ends meet.
A bill that would raise the minimum wage in California to $13 an hour passed the Assembly, Labor and Employment Committee Wednesday 5-1.
Assemblyman Matthew Harper, R-Huntington Beach, complained that debate was being cut off. Hernandez said Harper was speaking out of order and leaned over and shut off his microphone before demanding legislative security remove it. Both pieces of legislation will be considered by the Assembly’s Committee on Governmental Organization after passing the Senate last month. Lawmakers could also try to introduce the legislation in a special session on health care later this summer.
Mark Leno walked away from his bill to regulate e-cigarettes the same way as tobacco products on Wednesday after an Assembly committee forced an amendment to the bill that he said he could not support. Tobacco companies have sought to fend off rules governing the fast-selling devices, though at least 44 states ban their sale to minors.
E-cigarette manufacturers, however, insist that their product is safer than tobacco products and applying the same restrictions would thus be unfair.
Altria spokesman David Sutton did not answer questions about company donations to specific lawmakers on the committee.
A bill by state Sen.
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A 2013 bill that aimed to restrict public e-cigarette use was watered down to a ban on selling e-cigarettes in vending machines, but it did not win approval in the Legislature.
