WASHINGTON -- As expected, President Bush on Wednesday vetoed legislation that would have expanded the State Children's Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP) by $35 billion over five years, reported CNN. Speaking in Lancaster, Pa., Bush said he vetoed the bill because it was a step toward "federalizing" medicine and inappropriately expanded the program beyond its focus on helping poor children.
The expansion of the program was to be funded through a federal excise tax increase on tobacco, including a 61-cents-per-pack cigarette tax hike to $1 per pack from [image-nocss] the current 39 cents. A tobacco tax increase could still be achieved via other legislation.
Congress sent the S-CHIP legislation to the White House on Tuesday after the Senate voted 67-29 last week to expand the program. Bush had already said he would veto it. Democrats condemned the veto, but Congress currently lacks the votes to overturn it, said the report. Democrats vowed to find the votes needed to do so.
Click here to view Bush's statement on his S-CHIP veto.
Meanwhile, the U.S. House Energy & Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Health held a hearing Wednesday on the Family Smoking Prevention & Tobacco Control Act (HR 1108). The bill creates a new chapter in the Federal Food, Drug & Cosmetic Act (FFDCA) to allow the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate tobacco products.
Click here to view a summary of HR 1108.
The legislation, which has already cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee, would allow the FDA to regulate the levels of tar, nicotine and the other 4,000 cigarette ingredients, of which 40 are known to cause cancer, said an Associated Press report. It also would give the FDA the ability to restrict the advertising and marketing of cigarette products.
Similar efforts have failed to pass Congress in recent years, although analysts say a Democratic majority may be more willing to expand the FDA's authority. The House bill is co-sponsored by nearly 200 representatives.
The effort toward more regulation has the support of Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group Inc. Rivals argue that the bill would give PM USA the opportunity to maintain market dominance because it can spend more on lobbying than most competitors. The company also would have a bigger budget to fund scientific studies of reduced-risk cigarettes, which would undergo FDA review if the pending bill becomes law.
In prepared testimony delivered to the Subcommittee on Health, National Association of Convenience Store (NACS) president and CEO Hank Armour expressed retailers' concerns over the legislation. In his written testimony, Armour explained that NACS is only concerned with provisions that will affect retailers.
NACS takes no position with respect to the manufacturing provisions in H.R. 1108 that is not our issue. Our industry simply wants to sell legal products responsibly under regulatory regimes that are fair, he said.
In addition, Armour's testimony highlighted how the changes to the bill that NACS is advocating will not only protect the legitimate interests of the retail community, but also improve the bill's ability to prevent sales of tobacco to minors. He pointed out several issues of concern to retailers:
HR 1108 puts at risk a retailer's license to sell tobacco even if that retailer has an excellent compliance program. Requiring an adequate compliance program as a condition to avoid the potential loss of a license to sell tobacco can be a powerful incentive for retailers to do the right thing, said Armour.
The legislation makes the FDA responsible for duplicating the regulation of retailers when states are already doing this well, he said. Adding the responsibility of regulating more than 300,000 retail establishments that are not currently under FDA jurisdiction will put even greater strains on the agency. Furthermore, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recently issued a report that shows each state is complying with federal targets to prohibit the sale of tobacco to minors.
The legislation does not adequately cover sales made through the Internet or on Native American lands. A cigarette purchased over the Internet or on an Indian reservation is no less harmful to the youths of America and should be regulated in the same manner as all other cigarette sales, said Armour.
The legislation does not facilitate the sale of cessation products. Armour reminded committee members that in 1997, the FDA prohibited the sale of over-the-counter smoking cessation products like Nicoderm in c-stores. If we are serious about wanting people to stop smoking, we should want them to be able to get products that help them quit in convenient settings and in those places where they would purchase cigarettes. This legislation ought to fix this mistaken policy, Armour said.
If the committee is going to legislate with respect to retail sales, then it should work with the current systemnot against it, wrote Armour. Setting standards for state regulation, closing loopholes for Internet and Native American sellers, providing incentives for retailers to have good compliance programs, and allowing convenience stores to sell smoking cessation products are critical elements to sound regulation of tobacco sales.
Click here to viewArmour's testimony.
Also, NATO faxed a letter from its president, Andy Kerstein, to the 33 members of the Subcommittee on Health. The letter addresses concerns that NATO has on two retail provisions of the FDA bill.
Click the Download Now button below to view the letter.
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