REPORT SHOWS TOBACCO INTERESTS SPENT NEARLY $100 MILLION IN LAST DECADE TO BUY ELECTIONS...
Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach, as Republican Leader, took the second-most tobacco pay-offs, totaling $15,600 in 2009-10. Over a longer period, 2003-10, Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, took in the most tobacco money among current local lawmakers, $47,743. He is the longest serving local Republican in the Legislature, once an assemblyman now a senator...Cigarette makers and distributors contributed $6.5 million to California state candidates in 2009-10, a $4.5 million increase over the 2007-2008 election cycle...The industry also spent $2.76 million on lobbying, much of it dedicated to defeating new tobacco taxes.
TOBACCO MONEY REPORT SHOWS TOBACCO INTERESTS SPENT NEARLY $100 MILLION IN THE LAST DECADE TO INFLUENCE CALIFORNIA ELECTIONS AND LEGISLATIVE POLICY
The American Lung Association in California's Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing releases a new report on campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures by tobacco interests
July 19, 2011 (Sacramento, CA) Tobacco interests spent a total of $9.3 million on campaign contributions and lobbying in California during the 2009-2010 election cycle and have spent nearly $100 million over the last decade, according to a new report by the Center for Tobacco Policy & Organizing, a project of the American Lung Association in California.
"Big Tobacco continues to use its vast financial resources for campaign contributions and lobbying expenditures to oppose bills and ballot initiatives that would benefit public health by reducing tobacco use," said Jane Warner, President & CEO of the American Lung Association in California.
Tobacco Money in California Politics shows that tobacco interests contributed more than $6.56 million to candidates and members of the California Legislature, constitutional officers and political committees and spent $2.76 million on lobbying expenditures during the 2009-2010 election cycle.
The data used in producing Tobacco Money in California Politics is derived from the semiannual contribution reports and the quarterly lobbying reports filed by the tobacco interests with the Secretary of State that cover the period January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2010.
Highlights from Tobacco Money in California Politics include:
- Sixty percent of the total contributions made during the 2009-2010 election cycle were to political committees in support of Proposition 26 and in opposition to Proposition 25, which were both passed by California voters in the November 2010 general election. Proposition 25 changed the vote requirement for passing a state budget from a two-thirds vote to a simple majority and Proposition 26 reclassified many types of fees as taxes, subjecting them to a two-thirds vote requirement.
- Of the 122 state legislators (more than 120 due to vacancies and special elections), tobacco interests made campaign contributions to 59 members, or 48 percent, similar to the total from pervious election cycles.
- Philip Morris USA Inc. spent more than $750,000 on lobbying in the second quarter of 2009 (April through June), a record amount for lobbying expenditures in one quarter by any tobacco interest over the last decade. During those three months, the legislature voted on two budget bills that contained a tobacco tax increase and another tobacco tax bill that was moving forward in the legislative process.
"The numbers in this report are clear, Big Tobacco is spending to protect their vast financial interests in California," Paul Knepprath, Vice President of Advocacy and Health Initiatives, American Lung Association in California. "Despite the tobacco industry spending millions, smoking rates continue to drop and the state and local governments continue to pass policies that reduce tobacco's impact on our state."
A full copy of Tobacco Money in California Politics is available atwww.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/tobaccomoney. The Center also maintains a searchable database of campaign contributions that the public can use to learn if their own State Assembly Member or Senator received campaign contributions available at www.Center4TobaccoPolicy.org/database
Below are the report documents, as well as a database of campaign contributions to Members of the California Legislature that contains data from the 2001-2002 election cycle to the present and is searchable by name, legislative district and county.
Tobacco money to sitting lawmakers 2003-2010*
• Senator/Assemblyman Mark Wyland, R-Solana Beach, $47,743
• Senator/Assemblywoman Mimi Walters, R-Lake Forest, $30,600
• Assemblyman Martin Garrick, R-Solana Beach, $29,100
• Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, $25,100
• Senator/Assemblyman Joel Anderson, R-La Mesa, $23,900
• Assemblyman Kevin Jeffries, R-Lake Elsinore, $20,300
• Assemblywoman Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point, $19,000
• Assemblyman Brian Jones, R-Santee, $3,900
*Some numbers reflect donations for different offices and can vary by number of years in office. No sitting Democrat from San Diego County received direct contributions.
Source: American Lung Association inCalifornia
Tobacco Money in California Politics
Tobacco Money in California Politics: Highlights of the Report
Tobacco Money in California Politics: A Decade of Influence
Database of Campaign Contributions of Tobacco Interests
Press Release
Below are past tobacco money reports:
2009-2010 Election Cycle
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2009 - March 2010
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-December 2009
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-September 2009
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-June 2009
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-March 2009
2007-2008 Election Cycle
Tobacco Money in California Politics: Report for the 2007-2008 Election Cycle
Tobacco Money in California Politics: Highlights of the Report
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2007 - September 2008
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2007 - June 2008
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2007 - March 2008
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January- December 2007
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-September 2007
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-June 2007
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January-March 2007
2005-2006 Election Cycle
Tobacco Money in California Politics: Report for 2005-2006 Election Cycle
Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2009 - September 2010
Campaign Contributions and Lobbying Expenditures of Tobacco Interests in California: January 2009 - June 2010
