U.S. spending deal would raise tobacco age, repeal some Obamacare taxes

By Richard Cowan and Susan Cornwell

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congress would raise the U.S. tobacco purchasing age to 21 and permanently repeal several of the Affordable Care Act’s taxes under a massive government spending bill due to be released later on Monday, congressional sources said.

Republican and Democratic lawmakers hope to pass the $1.4 trillion spending bill before current government funding runs out on Saturday, to avoid a partial government shutdown and head off the kind of messy budget battle that resulted in a record 35-day interruption of government services late last year and early this year.

The legislation, worked out during weeks of negotiations between leading lawmakers and the Trump administration, denies President Donald Trump the spending increase he has sought to build his signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Most Democrats and some Republicans support a mix of improved physical barriers along the border, along with a combination of high-tech surveillance equipment and patrols by all-terrain vehicles and even horses.

They have mostly rejected Trump’s calls for at least $24 billion over the long run to build his much-touted wall, which he originally said Mexico would finance. That idea has been rejected by Mexico. The price tag could escalate as the federal government is forced to acquire private lands for construction.

The legislation also includes $425 million in added funding to help local governments prepare for the November 2020 presidential and congressional elections.

Some of the money would be used to harden infrastructure against cyber attacks following election meddling by Russia in 2016.

It also allocates $25 million for federal gun violence research, following a decades-long suspension of such funding.

All of the money would fund government programs through Sept. 30, 2020.

The House of Representatives aims to pass the spending plan as early as Tuesday. That would give the Senate until Friday to pass it and send it to the president to sign into law just before temporary funding expires.

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