[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 3664 Introduced in House (IH)]







105th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 3664

   To provide crop insurance coverage for tobacco crops, to provide 
     extension services related to tobacco, and to provide for the 
administration of the Federal tobacco price support and quota programs 
            at no expense to the Department of Agriculture.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             April 1, 1998

   Mr. Lewis of Kentucky (for himself, Mr. Bunning of Kentucky, Mr. 
  Whitfield, Mr. Chambliss, and Mr. Rogers) introduced the following 
        bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
   To provide crop insurance coverage for tobacco crops, to provide 
     extension services related to tobacco, and to provide for the 
administration of the Federal tobacco price support and quota programs 
            at no expense to the Department of Agriculture.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Tobacco Program Administrative 
Reform Act of 1998''.

SEC. 2. ASSESSMENT UPON TOBACCO PRODUCT MANUFACTURERS AND IMPORTERS TO 
              COVER DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH 
              TOBACCO PROGRAMS.

    (a) Covered Department Costs.--Not later than September 30 of each 
fiscal year, the Secretary of Agriculture shall estimate the costs to 
be incurred by the Department of Agriculture during the next fiscal 
year--
            (1) to administer the tobacco quota program under subtitle 
        B of title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 (7 
        U.S.C. 1311 et seq.);
            (2) to administer the tobacco price support program under 
        sections 106, 106A, and 106B of the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 
        U.S.C. 1445, 1445-1, 1445-2);
            (3) to carrying out crop insurance programs for tobacco, 
        including the costs to be incurred by the Federal Crop 
        Insurance Corporation under section 508(e) of the Federal Crop 
        Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1508(e)) to pay the premium for 
        catastrophic risk protection for tobacco crops and the Federal 
        portion of the premium for various additional coverages 
        available for tobacco crops; and
            (4) to extension services related to tobacco production and 
        marketing.
    (b) Adjustment of Estimate.--If the estimate prepared for a fiscal 
year under subsection (a) proves to be insufficient to cover the actual 
costs described in such subsection that were incurred by the Department 
during that fiscal year, the Secretary shall adjust the estimate for 
the next fiscal year to recoup the additional costs incurred by 
Department and paid out of Department funds.
    (c) Market Share and Assessment Determinations.--As soon as 
possible after preparing the estimate for a fiscal year under 
subsection (a), the Secretary shall determine the market share of each 
tobacco product manufacturer and each tobacco product importer during 
the most recent calendar year and the amount of the assessment payable 
by the tobacco product manufacturer or tobacco product importer for 
that fiscal year.
    (d) Individual Amount of Assessments.--The amount of an assessment 
payable by each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product 
importer under this section for a fiscal year shall be equal to the 
product obtained by multiplying--
            (1) the total amount of costs estimated by the Secretary 
        under subsection (a), as adjusted under subsection (b), for 
        that fiscal year; by
            (2) the market share of the tobacco product manufacturer or 
        tobacco product importer during the most recent calendar year 
        determined under subsection (d).
    (e) Collection, Deposit, and Availability of Assessments.--
            (1) Collection.--At such time each fiscal year and in such 
        manner as the Secretary may prescribe, each tobacco product 
        manufacturer and tobacco product importer shall remit to the 
        Secretary a nonrefundable assessment in the amount determined 
        for that tobacco product manufacturer or tobacco product 
        importer for that year under subsection (d). The Secretary may 
        enforce the collection of assessments under this paragraph in 
        the courts of the United States.
            (2) Tobacco assessment fund.--There is established in the 
        Treasury of the United States a fund to be known as the 
        ``Tobacco Assessment Fund'', which shall consist of all 
        assessments collected under paragraph (1).
            (3) Authorized uses of fund.--Amounts in the Tobacco 
        Assessment Fund shall be available to the Secretary, without 
        further appropriation, to cover the Department costs described 
        in subsection (a).
            (4) Refunds.--If the Secretary determines that amounts 
        collected under paragraph (1) for a fiscal year and deposited 
        in the Tobacco Assessment Fund exceed the amounts required to 
        cover anticipated Department costs under subsection (a) for 
        that fiscal year, plus a reasonable reserve, the Secretary 
        shall refund the excess amounts to tobacco product 
        manufacturers and tobacco product importers using the same 
        proportion for each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco 
        product importer as used in the original assessment.
    (f) Effect on Crop Insurance Premiums; Existing Assessments.--(1) 
Amounts made available to the Secretary under this section may not be 
used to change the crop insurance premiums assessed to tobacco 
producers under the Federal Crop Insurance Act (7 U.S.C. 1501 et seq.) 
relative to other crops.
    (2) Nothing in this section shall be construed to alter the 
assessments imposed and collected--
            (A) for deficit reduction purposes under section 106(g) of 
        the Agricultural Act of 1949 (7 U.S.C. 1445(g)); or
            (B) to finance operations of No Net Cost Tobacco Funds 
        under section 106A of such Act (7 U.S.C. 1445-1) and No Net 
        Cost Tobacco Accounts under section 106B of such Act (7 U.S.C. 
        1445-2).
    (g) Definitions.--For purposes of this section:
            (1) Tobacco product importer.--The term ``tobacco product 
        importer'' has the meaning given the term ``importer'' in 
        section 5702 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 
        5702).
            (2) Tobacco product manufacturer.--The term ``tobacco 
        product manufacturer'' has the meaning given the term 
        ``manufacturer of tobacco products'' in section 5702 of the 
        Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (26 U.S.C. 5702); except that the 
        term does not include a person that only manufactures cigars or 
        pipe tobacco.
            (3) Market share.--The term ``market share'' means the 
        ratio of--
                    (A) the tax liability of a tobacco product 
                manufacturer or tobacco product importer for a calendar 
                year under section 5703 of the Internal Revenue Code of 
                1986 (26 U.S.C. 5703); to
                    (B) the tax liability of all tobacco product 
                manufacturers and tobacco product importers for that 
                calendar year under such section.
            (4) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the Secretary 
        of Agriculture.
            (5) Department.--The term ``Department'' means the 
        Department of Agriculture.
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