TOBACCO BILL TALKS STALLED OVER LEGAL PROTECTIONS FOR INDUSTRY

WASHINGTON - Senate tobacco negotiators Saturday neared agreement on a bill
that would raise cigarette prices by $1.10 a pack over five years, but
bogged down over legal protections for the industry.

The Senate Commerce Committee has been holding almost around-the-clock
negotiations for much of the past week and has repeatedly thought the end
was in sight on a bill that could get broad bipartisan support.

But the talks have been stuck over two key questions -- Food and Drug
Administration authority over nicotine and tobacco and how much legal
protection the industry should get from lawsuits.

Committee and public health sources reported considerable progress but not
final agreement on the FDA on Saturday, but the partial immunity issue
remained a problem.

The staff of Senate Commerce Committee chairman John McCain canceled plans
Saturday night to circulate a draft of the bill, and scheduled new talks
for Sunday, mostly on the civil liability issue.

The latest version of the bill has less legal protection than the industry
wanted, but much more protection, including a ban on past class actions,
than most public health advocates find acceptable.

McCain, an Arizona Republican, wants the panel to take up a tobacco bill
Wednesday, before Congress takes a two-week recess. But to do that, he
needs to complete negotiations in the next day or so.

The negotiators include Commerce Committee members and their staffs, public
health officials and some of the attorneys general who negotiated a $368.5
billion settlement proposal with the industry last June 20.

For several days, the group has had a fairly firm agreement to raise
cigarette prices by $1.10 a pack over five years. Anti-tobacco lawmakers
want prices to go up by $1.50 but have indicated they could accept a lower
figure in committee and fight about it when it reaches the full Senate.

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