Tobacco Groups No. 1 in Political Donations

The tobacco industry gave lawmakers $196,000 in political contributions during the first six months of 1991, nosing out doctors and lawyers during the period as the most generous special interest group in Sacramento, according to a UC San Francisco study released Tuesday.

The study by the school’s Institute for Health Policy Studies also shows that the out-of-state tobacco companies and their trade group are giving 100 times more to legislators than they did 15 years ago, with Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) emerging as their favorite beneficiary.

Anti-smoking advocates hailed the report as proof that the tobacco industry is investing heavily in Sacramento in hopes of using state law to block grass-root campaigns that would ban or curb cigarette use in restaurants and public places.

“California is the absolute front-line in the anti-tobacco campaign in the United States. . , “ said Mark Pertschuk, executive director of the Berkeley-based Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. “And so if the tobacco industry can pull off sort of a preemptive move in Sacramento, it is sort of their last hope for stopping us in California.”

Of 13 anti-smoking bills introduced in the last session, all but one were either defeated or delayed. The only bill that cleared the Legislature would ban the free distribution of cigarette samples in public places.

A spokeswoman for the Washington, D. C.-based Tobacco Institute, who disputed some of the study’s findings, said the industry has an “enormous” constituency in California because about 25% of the adults are smokers.

“California’s a pretty active anti-smoking area (and) that justifies an active presence,” said Brennan Dawson, the trade group’s vice president for public affairs.

The study presents findings on how much the trade group and cigarette giants such as Philip Morris, R. J. Reynolds and Brown & Williamson contributed since the state began keeping centralized records in 1975. Among the findings:

* The industry gave $563,366 to lawmakers during the 1989-1990 election cycle, compared to $5,500 in 1975-1976, the study says. In all, tobacco firms have contributed $11.8 million to lawmakers over that time.

* Nearly all of the money is from out of state and is given to incumbents. Only eight lawmakers have not received tobacco-related donations.

* So far in the current election cycle, tobacco interests have contributed $196,000. For the first time, that is more than doctors ($173,422) and trial lawyers ($165,524), traditionally the most generous of interest groups.

“They’ve become major players in state politics,” said Michael Begay, a researcher who complied statistics for the study. “Now, they’ve moved into the rank of No. 1.”

* Speaker Brown is the single largest recipient of tobacco-related campaign contributions. Brown has received more than $255,150, $68,000 of it this year. Other major recipients include Senate President Pro Tem David A. Roberti ($60,328) and Senate Minority Leader Ken Maddy ($61,000).

The study singled out Brown, however, as an influential industry ally and cited instances of Brown’s intervening over the years to promote cigarette company interests. As an example, the study noted the recent controversy in which Brown was characterized in an internal tobacco industry memo as having advised cigarette companies on how to fashion a sham anti-smoking bill.

Brown adamantly denied that he gave such advice, but the furor was enough to kill a bill like the one described in the memo.

The study also said that Brown has fought the imposition of tobacco taxes and helped the industry gain legal immunity as part of the infamous “Frank Fats” compromise over civil liability laws. The compromise was so named because Brown and corporate attorneys wrote the deal on a cloth napkin at Frank Fats, a popular Capitol restaurant.

“I’m not suggesting he’s on the tobacco companies’ side but he’s very friendly to the tobacco industry,” Begay said.

A spokesman for Brown said Tuesday he would have no comment on the study.