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http://www.newsmax.com/us/congress_cigarettes/2007/11/10/48374.html
Congress Aims to Put Out Cigarettes
Saturday, November 10, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry,
banning tobacco sales in Senate buildings and - more importantly - seeking a
significant federal tax increase on cigarettes.
The industry, once a lobbying behemoth, is quietly working against the tax
bill. But it lacks the clout it once wielded.
Several key lawmakers said they have had no recent contacts with tobacco
lobbyists. And both houses have signaled a willingness to raise the
cigarette tax if other provisions of a children's health bill can be
resolved.
"I think the industry has tried to do things more quietly, largely because
they obviously know how popular a tobacco tax is," said Ron Pollack,
executive director of Families USA. The health advocacy group supports a
proposed $35 billion increase in the State Children's Health Insurance
Program, which a higher cigarette tax would finance.
House and Senate negotiators are trying to craft a veto-proof version of the
bill. President Bush says he would veto it because it calls for a 61
cents-per-pack increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, taking it
to $1.
The House came within about a dozen votes of overriding Bush's veto of a
similar bill last month. The bill's supporters are offering to change
program eligibility rules in hopes of picking up enough Republicans to make
the revised bill veto-proof. The proposed cigarette tax increase is not at
issue, leaders of both parties said.
Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, sponsors a Web
site, mailings and a toll-free number urging people to ask Congress to
sustain Bush's veto. "Taxing smokers is unfair," the materials say, adding
that states have increased sales taxes on cigarettes 73 times since 2000.
"We are sharing our position with legislators," Philip Morris spokesman Bill
Phelps said in an interview. The company also has encouraged tobacco
growers, retailers and wholesalers to get involved, he said.
But tobacco's critics say health concerns have deeply eroded the industry's
influence in Congress.
"The country and elected officials have really made a turn," said Bill Corr,
executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Cigarette
companies, he said, "don't have the opportunity to go in and push members as
much."
The tobacco industry gave $3.5 million to federal campaigns and candidates
in the 2006 election cycle, ranking 64th among major industry groups,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Ten years earlier, it gave
$10.5 million, ranking 26th.
Some Democratic lawmakers have groused that House Minority Whip Roy Blunt,
R-Mo., is married to a lobbyist who has worked for Philip Morris' parent
company. Blunt, who is monitoring the children's health negotiations, says
his wife no longer lobbies on tobacco issues.
In a landmark 1998 settlement of many lawsuits, four major tobacco companies
agreed to help states pay for smoking-related health care costs. They paid
$52.6 billion from 2000 to 2005, the government reported.
In some ways, tobacco's presence on Capitol Hill is literally waning. The
Senate Rules Committee recently ordered shops in the Capitol and all Senate
office buildings to end cigarette sales by Jan. 1.
Cigarettes are still sold in the Longworth House Office Building. But last
January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., banned smoking in the ornate
Speaker's Lobby, just off the House floor.
"The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over," she
said, citing the risks of cancer and respiratory diseases.
Other congressional actions could have a far greater impact on the industry.
A Senate committee recently approved legislation that would, for the first
time, allow federal regulation of cigarettes. The bill, also pending in the
House, would require the Food and Drug Administration to restrict tobacco
advertising, regulate warning labels and remove hazardous ingredients.
Congress Aims to Put Out Cigarettes
Saturday, November 10, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Congress is taking new whacks at the cigarette industry,
banning tobacco sales in Senate buildings and - more importantly - seeking a
significant federal tax increase on cigarettes.
The industry, once a lobbying behemoth, is quietly working against the tax
bill. But it lacks the clout it once wielded.
Several key lawmakers said they have had no recent contacts with tobacco
lobbyists. And both houses have signaled a willingness to raise the
cigarette tax if other provisions of a children's health bill can be
resolved.
"I think the industry has tried to do things more quietly, largely because
they obviously know how popular a tobacco tax is," said Ron Pollack,
executive director of Families USA. The health advocacy group supports a
proposed $35 billion increase in the State Children's Health Insurance
Program, which a higher cigarette tax would finance.
House and Senate negotiators are trying to craft a veto-proof version of the
bill. President Bush says he would veto it because it calls for a 61
cents-per-pack increase in the federal excise tax on cigarettes, taking it
to $1.
The House came within about a dozen votes of overriding Bush's veto of a
similar bill last month. The bill's supporters are offering to change
program eligibility rules in hopes of picking up enough Republicans to make
the revised bill veto-proof. The proposed cigarette tax increase is not at
issue, leaders of both parties said.
Philip Morris USA, the nation's largest cigarette maker, sponsors a Web
site, mailings and a toll-free number urging people to ask Congress to
sustain Bush's veto. "Taxing smokers is unfair," the materials say, adding
that states have increased sales taxes on cigarettes 73 times since 2000.
"We are sharing our position with legislators," Philip Morris spokesman Bill
Phelps said in an interview. The company also has encouraged tobacco
growers, retailers and wholesalers to get involved, he said.
But tobacco's critics say health concerns have deeply eroded the industry's
influence in Congress.
"The country and elected officials have really made a turn," said Bill Corr,
executive director of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Cigarette
companies, he said, "don't have the opportunity to go in and push members as
much."
The tobacco industry gave $3.5 million to federal campaigns and candidates
in the 2006 election cycle, ranking 64th among major industry groups,
according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Ten years earlier, it gave
$10.5 million, ranking 26th.
Some Democratic lawmakers have groused that House Minority Whip Roy Blunt,
R-Mo., is married to a lobbyist who has worked for Philip Morris' parent
company. Blunt, who is monitoring the children's health negotiations, says
his wife no longer lobbies on tobacco issues.
In a landmark 1998 settlement of many lawsuits, four major tobacco companies
agreed to help states pay for smoking-related health care costs. They paid
$52.6 billion from 2000 to 2005, the government reported.
In some ways, tobacco's presence on Capitol Hill is literally waning. The
Senate Rules Committee recently ordered shops in the Capitol and all Senate
office buildings to end cigarette sales by Jan. 1.
Cigarettes are still sold in the Longworth House Office Building. But last
January, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., banned smoking in the ornate
Speaker's Lobby, just off the House floor.
"The days of smoke-filled rooms in the United States Capitol are over," she
said, citing the risks of cancer and respiratory diseases.
Other congressional actions could have a far greater impact on the industry.
A Senate committee recently approved legislation that would, for the first
time, allow federal regulation of cigarettes. The bill, also pending in the
House, would require the Food and Drug Administration to restrict tobacco
advertising, regulate warning labels and remove hazardous ingredients.
