Congress is reportedly ready to ban tobacco sales to anyone under 21

Tobacco Product Sales.
(Image credit: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

An industry-transforming policy is reportedly arriving before the year ends.

A proposal to install a federal ban on tobacco sales to anyone under 21 has bipartisan support in the Senate, with even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying earlier this year he'd introduce legislation limiting the sales. But it now seems he won't need a separate bill, as the Senate plans to include the provision in this year's federal spending bill, sources in both parties tell Politico.

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Congressional leaders have already tentatively agreed to a plan to fund the government through fiscal year 2020, Politico reported in November. A stopgap spending bill extended the current government funding provisions until Dec. 20 of this year. Other policy changes and local funding packages will likely be snuck into the spending bill as conditions for some lawmakers' support, though the tobacco age raise may be the most significant nationwide. Federal law currently sets the tobacco sales age limit at 18, though some states and local municipalities have made it higher.

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Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.