Tobacco Buyout Up for House Vote
Republican leaders are close to sending a tobacco-buyout bill to
the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives as part of a measure
that would repeal a tax break for U.S. exporters, Fox News reported
June 2.
Under the measure, farmers in the tobacco states of Georgia, Kentucky,
North Carolina, and Tennessee would be paid to leave the government
program that sets price and production control on U.S.-grown tobacco.
"I think this is the best opportunity politically we've had,"
said Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.), an advocate for the buyout.
However, senior Republicans said moderates could object to combining
the buyout with the tax bill.
Anti-smoking groups -- which want the buyout tied to a measure
authorizing the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco
-- are against the plan. Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign
for Tobacco-free Kids called the House proposal a "back-room
deal to protect the tobacco industry while deliberately avoiding
any action that would reduce the death toll from tobacco use."
The U.S. Senate passed the tax bill last month without the tobacco
buyout.
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