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S 1490 108th Congress Senate

Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003

Official title: A bill to eliminate the Federal quota and price support programs for tobacco, to provide assistance to quota holders, tobacco producers, and tobacco-dependent communities, and for other purposes.

Introduced: July 30, 2003 Introduced by: McConnell, Mitch Republican · Kentucky See on congress.gov
Agriculture and Food Agricultural productionAgricultural subsidiesFarm production quotasTobacco
This bill died when the 108th Congress ended
It never became law before the 108th Congress (2003–2004) adjourned, and bills don't carry over to the next Congress. It would have to be reintroduced. You can still save it for reference, but it won't receive updates.
 Everywhere this bill has been 3 steps
Introduced
In committee
Reported out
Passed House
Passed Senate
To President
Became law
Sep 2, 2003
Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 264.
Jul 30, 2003
Introduced in the Senate. Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
Jul 30, 2003
Introduced in Senate
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 Latest action September 2, 2003

Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 264.

 Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003 - Amends, and repeals, specified agricultural Acts to eliminate tobacco quota and price support programs, including no net cost provisions.

Adds a new subtitle, Subtitle E: Tobacco Assistance, to title III of the Agricultural Adjustment Act of 1938 which requires the Secretary of Agriculture to make transition payments to each tobacco quota holder (generally, an owner of a farm, as of July 1, 2002, for which a basic tobacco marketing or farm acreage allotment for quota tobacco was established for the 2002 tobacco marketing year under a marketing quota program).

Requires the Secretary to make direct payments to a traditional producer of tobacco (a person that, for at least one of the 2000, 2001, or 2002 tobacco marketing years, was actively engaged in the production of tobacco marketed, or considered planted, under a marketing quota and shared in the risk of producing the tobacco).

Directs the Secretary to establish: (1) a permanent advisory board, the Tobacco Quality Board; (2) a permanent advisory board for each kind of tobacco, a Production Board; and (3) an acreage limitation program for each crop of each kind of tobacco.

Directs the Secretary, during any consecutive 4-week period of a marketing year in which the world price for the crop of a kind of tobacco exceeds the average domestic price for such tobacco, to make market stability payments available to active producers of such tobacco.

Directs the Secretary to make grants: (1) to eligible States for the Federal share of carrying out economic development initiatives in impacted counties (counties in which tobacco producers have sustained a reduction in gross receipts from the sale of tobacco for a base period); and (2) to colleges and universities in eligible States to conduct research to assist tobacco producers to diversify so as to reduce or eliminate reliance on tobacco production (or to promote alternative uses of tobacco or enhance the quality of tobacco produced), and to foster development of economically viable new agricultural technologies and enterprises for rural communities.

Establishes in the Commodity Credit Corporation a revolving trust fund to carry out this subtitle. Deposits into the Fund an annual assessment (imposed by this Act) on each tobacco product manufacturer and tobacco product importer that sells tobacco products in domestic U.S. commerce.

Sets forth tobacco stocks and no net cost transition provisions.

 Related & companion bills 1
 Bill text 2 versions

Source documents hosted by congress.gov.

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APA
U.S. Congress. (2026). S. 1490: Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003. 108th Congress. Open America. https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-1490/
MLA
"S. 1490: Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003." 108th Congress, 2026, Open America, https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-1490/.
Bluebook (legal)
S. 1490, 108th Cong. (2026), https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-1490/.
Markdown link
[S. 1490: Tobacco Market Transition Act of 2003](https://openamerica.io/bill/108-S-1490/)
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