Forty members say tobacco buyout key to their votes on tax bill

[NewJerseyDem]

http://www.thehill.com/news/063004/taxbill.aspx

Forty House members, many from rural tobacco-growing districts in the Southeast, have told Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) that their recent votes for his corporate tax bill depended, to a large degree, on his decision to add a buyout for tobacco farmers to the bill.

In a June 24 letter, the members urged Thomas to preserve the buyout as the bill moves through conference. “We strongly encourage you to hold firm and insist that these tobacco reform provisions remain intact,” the group wrote. Signers included Reps. Bill Jenkins (R-Tenn.), Mike McIntyre (D-N.C.), Harold Rogers (R-Ky.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.).

“This language strikes a strong chord in the heart of our traditional tobacco region and much of our support for the underlying bill hinges on the forward progress of tobacco reform legislation,” they wrote. The Senate version of the bill does not include the buyout.

Thomas struggled over many months to muster support for the corporate tax bill, which passed 251-178 two weeks ago. The addition of the buyout was seen as a major vote-getter, but until now, it was unclear just how many members had been lured to the bill mostly because of the tobacco measure.