Cigarette butts should stay in your car's ashtray.
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Cigarette butts should stay in your car's ashtray.
That's the message lawmakers are sending to smokers, giving final passage to a bill that labels cigarette butts as litter and allows fines against people who throw them out car windows.
The measure by Republican Rep. Patrick Connick, from Marrero, goes next to Gov. Bobby Jindal, after receiving final passage Monday with a unanimous House vote.
A first offense carries a $300 fine and eight hours of community service in a litter cleanup program.
A second offense will cost $700 and require 16 hours of cleanup work. On a third offense, violators could give up their driver's licenses for a year, pay a $1,500 fine and have to perform 80 hours of cleanup.