Jump to full article: AP, 2002-06-25
Author: Statewire
Intro: The tobacco industry spent more than $2.6 million lobbying Wisconsin's Legislature between 1999 and 2001, a study released Tuesday by a government watchdog group found.
The report from Common Cause in Wisconsin was based on documents filed with the state Ethics Board.
Common Cause Executive Director Jay Heck said it was intended to " document how big tobacco has undermined smoking prevention programs and impeded efforts to enforce existing laws designed to protect young people from smoking."
The report showed Philip Morris spent $867, 908 during that time, the most among tobacco companies on lobbying. The company did not immediately return a telephone message left Tuesday by The Associated Press.
Assembly Majority Leader Steven Foti, R-Oconomowoc, criticized the report for characterizing groups such as convenience stores as tobacco interests.
He said he receives campaign contributions from such businesses because they are located in his district.
" They don' t care about the tobacco issue, " he said.
Legislators are preparing to use all of the $1.3 billion from the one-time sale of its share of annual payments from the 1998 tobacco settlement to help plug the state' s $1.1 billion budget hole.
Heck said the fact that legislators aren' t considering an increase in the cigarette tax shows the effect of tobacco industry lobbying.
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