He vows to gut program if state won't buy product being promoted by a supporter
Jump to full article: Houston (TX) Chronicle, 2006-02-08
Author: POLLY ROSS HUGHES
Intro: A powerful West Texas lawmaker has cajoled and berated state health officials for nearly three years, trying to persuade them to dedicate millions of dollars to an unproven anti-smoking product promoted by the lawmaker's longtime friend and campaign contributor.
House State Affairs Committee Chairman David Swinford, R-Dumas, is now threatening to shift more than $5 million in annual tobacco prevention funds from the Texas Department of State Health Services to the Texas Education Agency in hopes that health officials will respond to his demands.
An advocate of clean government said Swinford's badgering of state bureaucrats amounts to an abuse of power by one of the most influential state legislators.
"Pushing something that to me is nothing but snake oil and using all your weight, it's just misuse of your position, official misconduct," said Suzy Woodford, executive director of the government watchdog group, Common Cause. "It's cronyism — he's my buddy and he's been a political supporter of mine."
Swinford's involvement with an anti-smoking product may seem unlikely for a West Texas grain dealer, but he has proved a faithful advocate for "A Short Story of Life," a cardboard cost-of-smoking calculator shaped like a pack of cigarettes.
When users move a sliding panel up or down, the device reveals how much is lost in years lived and dollars spent, depending on the number of cigarettes smoked.
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