Representative Byron Donalds (R-FL) spearheaded a bipartisan bill to ease regulations on small and family-owned domestic cigar producers.
Aptly named the Cutting the Invasive Government's Arbitrary Regulations (CIGAR) Act, Rep. Donalds' bill simplifies the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) definition of "premium" cigars to reduce onerous regulations defining "premium" or "non-premium" cigars. Thus, the FDA can focus on tobacco regulation as a whole rather than specific products.
For additional context, the FDA struggled to find an adequate definition for "premium" cigars in the 2009 Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (TCA).
The working definition defined by Judge Amit Mehta, however, requires small domestic producers to pay user fees (5 cents per cigar sold) on top of excise taxes and undergo an extensive Premarket Tobacco Application process (PMTA) that takes substantial time and money. The FDA estimates that a single cigar "style" application can cost up to $400,000.
Keep in mind that there are thousands of cigar "styles."
As a result, Rep. Donalds' bill has strong bipartisan support, with Representatives Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL), Nick Langworthy (R-NY), Dina Titus (D-NV), and Jimmy Panetta (D-CA) listed as cosponsors.
"It's imperative that we protect small and family-owned businesses across America from overly-burdensome federal regulation," said the Florida Congressman on X (formerly Twitter), adding, "This is why I've introduced H.R. 2111 – The "Cutting the Invasive Government's Arbitrary Regulations (CIGAR) Act."
It's imperative that we protect small and family-owned businesses across America from overly-burdensome federal regulation.
This is why I've introduced H.R. 2111 – The "Cutting the Invasive Government's Arbitrary Regulations (CIGAR) Act."
See exclusive: https://t.co/PmItA18WYd pic.twitter.com/ADeJSiExQE
— Congressman Byron Donalds (@RepDonaldsPress) March 18, 2025
The CIGAR Act marks the latest effort by Donalds to scale back government overreach, writing last week for the "de-weaponization" of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to Acting Chairman Mark Uyeda.
Donalds claimed that the SEC under the Biden-Harris Administration loosened the definitions of "broker" (the middleman in exchange) and "dealer" (the seller) so that "any company whose business model is based on the purchase and sale of securities is a dealer, regardless of whether the company renders any of the services that have been the hallmark of a dealer, such as effectuating customer orders."
