Rubio Hosting Field Hearing on Premium Cigars Next Week

Next Friday, Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., will chair a field hearing on premium cigar regulation.

The hearing is entitled Keeping Small, Premium Cigar Businesses Rolling and will be hosted by Rubio in Tampa. It’s a field hearing, meaning it’s an official Congressional event, though it’s not hosted in Washington D.C.

It also means Rubio is likely to be the only senator present. He will be joined by four witnesses who will all testify and then take questions from the Rubio:

• Charles Maresca — Director of Interagency Affairs, Office of Advocacy U.S. Small Business Administration
• Dr. Brad Rodu — Endow Chaired, Tobacco Harm Reduction Research University of Louisville
• Jeff Borysiewicz — Founder of Corona Cigar Co.
• Drew Newman — General Counsel of J.C. Newman Cigar Co.

The event is expected to be broadcast on C-SPAN.

Rubio is the sponsor of S.9, a bill that would exempt premium cigar from regulation by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

It will take place at the Hillsborough Community College Ybor City Campus Performing Arts Building Auditorium at 2112 N. 15th Street in Tampa.

Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.