Finally, PhRMA supported measures which could lead to increased drug sales, including directing school wellness committees to encourage anti-smoking and anti-obesity measures. PhRMA also supported the creation of a task force to study health care reform.
OTHER INTERESTS
Although they spent lesser amounts, the tobacco, construction, and liquor industries also spent considerable funds to represent their interests at the State House, according to the Phoenix's tabulation of lobbying expenses
Led by the nation's largest cigarette company, Philip Morris ($114,600), the tobacco industry spent $231,850 opposing higher tobacco taxes, an increase in the legal smoking age to 21, and restrictions on rolling-paper sales. According to Philip Morris lobbyist Robert Goldberg, they also supported legislation, which became law, to limit the tobacco manufacturer's costs in personal-injury lawsuits (see sidebar).
Led by the Rhode Island Builders Association ($55,416) and Baltimore-based developer Struever Bros. Eccles & Rouse Inc. (approximately $30,000), the construction industry spent $226,496 lobbying to promote tax credits, oppose environmental legislation, and limit labor-law enforcement. The builders supported tax credits for installation of fire alarm and sprinkler systems, but opposed legislation to reduce Rhode Island's greenhouse-gas emissions. They also lobbied against strengthening the power of the director of the Department of Labor and Training to pursue worker complaints. Struever Bros., which failed to file six lobbying reports in the last six months, opposed repeal of West Warwick's sales-tax exemption zone and limits on historic tax credits, which have benefited their developments of old mills in West Warwick and Providence
The liquor industry spent $180,858 lobbying. The largest spender was Anheuser-Busch Companies ($35,500), for whom lobbyists Peter McGinn and Clark Curtis opposed development of a plan for a Rhode Island bottle bill and higher excise taxes on beer. Meanwhile, the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States ($25,208) pushed for permission to hold free promotional tastings of hard liquor. The council also opposed a ban on billboard advertising for alcoholic beverages.
Among unions, the National Education Association of Rhode Island, which rep-re-sents teachers, reported the highest expenses ($25,400) paid to four staff members, led by former House Labor Committee chairman Henry Boeniger. The rival Rhode Island Federation of Teachers paid three staffers a total of $15,850 and the state's largest union, Council 94 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, filed an incomplete final report in February. (The Secretary of State's office is seeking the information, says Barnett.) The Rhode Island AFL-CIO ($9000) reported paying President Frank Montanaro, Secretary-Treasurer George Nee, and Director of Political Activities Mark Mancinho $300 a month each to lobby. Labor lobbyists push for preservation of public employee pensions and collective bargaining rights.
Finally, the world's largest corporation, Wal-Mart Stores, spent $30,000 to hire Providence lawyers Kelly Sheridan and John Moretta. Their reports list no specific legislative interests, but instead the broad categories of "commercial law," "health care," "taxation," and "financial services."
Steven Stycos can be reached at steven@stycos.com.
