Tobacco growers told Congress their industry is under siege.
State Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler joined a chorus of North Carolina farmers who said that tobacco manufacturing jobs are "under siege" from tax increases at a hearing in the House agriculture committee.
"The last thing North Carolina, or any state, needs right now is more lost jobs," Troxler said.
The state's tobacco crop was worth $686 million last year, and the industry pumped $24 billion into the economy with more than 10,000 jobs.
The farmers oppose a bill that would give the Food and Drug Administration oversight over tobacco. They back an alternative proposed by Sens. Kay Hagan and Richard Burr that would create a new agency.
Rep. Mike McIntyre said the goal is to keep regulators off farms.
"The last thing we want is for government bureaucrats to be coming on the farm," he said. (Char-O)
