Helping drive the settlement process in Washington are two multibillion-dollar lawsuits against the tobacco industry set to go to trial next month in Texas and Minnesota. The cigarette-makers are expected to seek a settlement in those suits before they go to trial so they won't have a negative impact as Congress debates the national settlement legislation. That point was driven home further on Thursday when the state of Texas sought to subpoena 10 current or former cigarette company executives to testify at its trial, which is set to begin Jan. 12. The three bills already introduced in the Senate take vastly different approaches - and have vastly different price tags. One bipartisan bill, sponsored by Republican John McCain of Arizona and Democrat Ernest F. Hollings of South Carolina, mirrors the June 20 deal except it adds a buyout provision for tobacco growers and allotment holders, who were omitted from the initial deal.
Few people expect that bill to survive intact.
Hatch's proposal also would allow the Food and Drug Administration to regulate tobacco, although there would be certain limitations on the agency's authority to do so. The chief sponsor of the toughest bill introduced so far is Sen. Edward Kennedy. It would offer some assistance to growers and allotment holders, but it wouldn't grant any liability protection to cigarette makers. A task force headed by Sen. Kent Conrad, a Democrat from North Dakota, is promising a bill that is expected to be tougher than the June 20 deal, but not as punitive to the industry as the Kennedy plan. Senate Majority Whip Don Nickles, an Oklahoma Republican, also is putting together a bill, at the request of Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott.