A House panel is expected to approve today sweeping tobacco regulation that would put the bill on pace for House passage far earlier in the congressional session than in the last Congress.The House Energy and Commerce Committee vote, expected this afternoon or evening, would give the Food and Drug Administration the power to police the tobacco industry.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (H.R. 1256) is nearly identical to a bill the House passed by a wide margin last summer. The Senate did not take action last year.

Health advocates — comfortable their bill will pass the House again this Congress — are already looking to the Senate where they ran out of time last year.

Some Republican House members grumbled that the committee, which has nine new members, was rushing to action without holding hearings on the health issue.

Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., a physician, argued today that FDA should focus on securing the nation’s food supply first. He said people understand the dangers of cigarettes and smokeless tobacco, which are blamed for taking the lives of 442,000 people each year.

“What they don’t understand is why a child should die from eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” Gingrey said.

The arguments were similar to last year’s House committee debate.

“There’s nothing new before us today,” said former committee chairman John Dingell, D-Mich. “But then as now, the Senate is the obstacle to getting this legislation passed into law.”

The measure has split the tobacco industry, with industry giants Altria, Inc., parent company of Philip Morris USA, and United Smokeless Tobacco favoring the bill.

Reynolds American and Lorrilard Tobacco have argued the bill’s marketing restrictions and expansion of health warning labels would freeze the competitive market, favoring arch rival Philip Morris.

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., is planning to introduce a Republican alternative bill to create a new tobacco harm reduction center within the Department of Health and Human Services. The center would combine smoking cessation programs with industry strategies to reduce the harm from tobacco products, Republicans said.

Aides to Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C. said he may introduce a similar bill in the Senate.

With Democrats winning expanded majorities in the House and Senate last fall, neither bill is expected to receive much support.

Democrats contend FDA is the right agency to police tobacco. They would pay for the regulation through a tax on cigarettes that would start at about a penny per cigarette pack this year and rise to at least 5 cents per pack within a decade, generating between $85 million and $712 million per year, according to committee staff.

Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., who represents the largest tobacco-producing district in the country and serves on the commerce committee, praised the proposal for protecting tobacco farmers. The bill will allow farmers to “continue to earn a living … so they can support their families and their communities,” he said.