Senator Harkin (D-Iowa) recently introduced a bill – S. 1403 – that would increase the federal excise tax on tobacco products as a way of funding the reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Act.  The new bill, entitled IDEA Full Funding Act, was introduced last week in the U.S. Senate and referred to the Finance Committee where it is pending with no action.

In particular, the measure would raise the federal excise tax on cigarettes by $1.00 – taking the per pack excise tax from $1.01 to $2.01.  And, the bill would also raise the federal excise taxes on little cigars, pipe tobacco, RYO tobacco and single-use smokeless units or Snus.  AWMA lobbied against another measure introduced by Sen. Harkin to raise the federal excise tax on tobacco – S. 174 – during the annual AWMA Day on the Hill lobbying event in May.