While Utah state government sues tobacco companies for $130 million in lost health-care costs for residents whose lives were damaged by smoking, a number of Utah legislators and their party fund-raising committees take thousands of dollars in campaign contributions from those same cigarette companies.
An in-depth review of lawmakers' campaign finance reports, political action committee reports and the PAC filings of House and Senate Republicans and Democrats show that dozens of legislators accepted the tobacco money in 1996.Attorney General Jan Graham, who filed Utah's tobacco lawsuit, says Utah legislators shouldn't take one dime from anyone who sells tobacco.
But many legislators disagree.
Some lawmakers were neither offered nor accepted any tobacco money. Others were selective, taking from one but denying another. Fifteen legislators accepted all tobacco money that was offered.
A number rejected "pure" tobacco contributions - those that came from the much-maligned Tobacco Institute, the research/political industry group that tobacco companies themselves have agreed to disband under an agreement with the attorneys general of the states.
But even a number of the legislators who rejected Tobacco Institute money still accepted donations from Philip Morris, the nation's largest tobacco producer.
Several of those lawmakers, including members of House and Senate leadership from both parties, say they took Philip Morris money because the conglomerate has food distribution facilities in Utah. Thus, they say, they took donations from constituents in the food business, not the tobacco business.
However, a check by the Deseret News of the Philip Morris 1996 annual report shows 67 percent of the company's operating profits came through its tobacco sales. When the firm's Miller Brewing Co. profits are included, 71 percent of the company's profits comes from tobacco and beer sales, public financial reports show.
"I rejected Tobacco Institute money for obvious reasons; it's straight from tobacco, and I disagree with" the use of tobacco, said Senate President Lane Beattie. Beattie turned down a $200 institute check but accepted $500 from Philip Morris.
"Philip Morris is a holding company with a lot of interests. They have no tobacco interests in Utah, but Kraft Foods (a Philip Morris subsidiary) and other (foods made by the firm) are used by many Utahns," Beattie said.
He doesn't consider Philip Morris solely a tobacco company. "It doesn't concern me at all" that 67 percent of the firm's profits come from tobacco. In Utah, the firm's interests aren't 67 percent from tobacco; Utahns buy their food products, he added.
And even legislators who didn't accept Tobacco Institute or Philip Morris contributions in 1995 and 1996 still received money from their own House and Senate party PACs - organizations set up to help re-elect legislative incumbents.
And tobacco money, one way or another, flowed into those PACs over the past two years to be doled out to worthy candidates by legislative leaders.
In addition to the question of political acumen in accepting money from an industry which - the U.S. surgeon general says - clearly kills people and which the state is already suing, many Utah lawmakers also have moral or religious questions in accepting tobacco and beer money.
More than 80 percent of Utah House and Senate are faithful members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A number of lawmakers are now or have served as lay leaders in that church.
The LDS Church prohibits its members from using tobacco in any form or drinking alcohol.
Yet many LDS legislators accepted contributions from the Tobacco Institute, Philip Morris, the Utah Beer Wholesalers Association or other groups who routinely advertise use of their tobacco or alcohol products.
Twenty legislators who took no tobacco money did take contributions from the Utah Beer Wholesalers Association. Four law-makers refused the beer money, however.
House Speaker Mel Brown personally rejected Tobacco Institute money but took $1,000 contributions from Philip Morris and the Beer wholesalers. Brown, a former lay leader in the LDS Church, says the question of how LDS beliefs are translated into political and business life is a constant one for loyal church members.
"If you (are LDS and) own a store, do you sell cigarettes and beer even if it is against your personal beliefs and then suffer economic disadvantage?" As a legislative candidate "do you accept those contributions and listen to all sides of the issue?" Brown asked.
"I've approached this as saying as a representative and as the speaker I'll talk and listen to anyone. I may not support you, may not vote for you. But I think it is better to be inclusive than to exclude someone. That just forces that group to hire more lobbyists and put on more pressure," Brown said.
He added he doesn't consider Philip Morris donations as coming from tobacco, but from Kraft Foods and other food subsidiaries.
It should be pointed out that acceptance of tobacco and beer donations or any other campaign contributions are legal. Utah doesn't regulate how much or from whom legislative candidates can accept donations, nor limit the expenditure of campaign funds in any way.
In June 1996, Attorney General Graham announced Utah was joining 14 other states who, at that time, were suing the tobacco producers. Graham is asking for $130 million - the amount of state taxes that went into Medicaid payments for smoking-caused diseases over the four-year statute of limitations.
Most of the tobacco contributions taken during the 1996 legislative campaigns were accepted after she announced she was filing suit, various campaign filings show. All of the 1996 Philip Morris money came into the campaigns after Graham's June announcement.
"Not one legislator should be taking tobacco money," said Graham, the lone Democrat elected to statewide office in Utah. That's not because lawmakers could influence her lawsuit against tobacco firms, she says, but because of possible influence on anti-tobacco legislation yearly introduced in the Legislature.
Graham in her 1996 re-election took no tobacco contributions. Gov. Mike Leavitt told his 1996 campaign manager, Charlie Evans, not to accept any tobacco money. "I asked (the governor) if I should cash Tobacco Institute and Philip Morris contributions," Evans said. "He said no."
"Yes, (legislators) raised the cigarette tax in 1997," Graham said. "But how much of the ($22 million in additional tax) is going to teenage smoking prevention programs? Two-hundred and fifty thousand dollars. That's postage money to what's needed.
"I can't believe the influence, how they (tobacco firms) are received in this Legislature, how inside the loop they are. I've had members of (legislative) leadership tell me I should have never filed this (tobacco) lawsuit, that tobacco is a legal product and the free marketplace should decide whether it's used or not," Graham said.
She adds, however, that not once has any lawmaker attempted to hinder or stop her lawsuit. "They expressed their opinions, which is fine. But it's interesting that (considering the social makeup ) in this state who is supportive" of tobacco's cause.
Beattie disagrees with Graham's perception. "The real story (of tobacco contributions) is clear. Look what we did this year. We raised the tobacco tax" by 25 cents a pack. "That shows you what influence they have. The (lobbyists for tobacco/food companies) know they don't even talk to me about tobacco. They know where I stand: I'm against it. If we talk, we talk about the food" interests the tobacco companies own, Beattie said.
In recent years accepting tobacco money has become a sensitive political issue for some legislators. An increasing number are turning down tobacco money, reports show.
The Tobacco Institute is the group most shunned by legislators. In 1996 the institute sent out checks totaling $4,200 to 30 different legislative candidates, most of them incumbents or former incumbents running for office again.
But all of the candidates didn't accept the money. One, Sen. Ed Mayne, D-West Valley, took the PAC's $100 but gave it to the United Way.
Ten lawmakers - a third of those solicited - declined to cash the institute's checks. Because the tobacco money was never placed in their campaign accounts, legislators who rejected the institute's checks didn't report any such donations on their reports. The institute's PAC filing does list the checks as sent out, however.
It's common practice for legislative candidates to pore over their opponent's campaign finance filings and publicly criticize any questionable donations. By not accepting a check in the first place, candidates who don't want to explain such donations just before election day avoid the criticism.
Tobacco Institute lobbyists even went so far as to remove Brown's name from the PAC's financial filings. Brown is listed as receiving a $200 check on the institute's Oct. 29, 1996 filing. He says he never cashed the check. "I won't take their money," he said.
But amended institute filings handed in later have whited out Brown's name and contribution. Brown's own filings show no Tobacco Institute money because he never cashed the check.
Nine other legislators also refused the institute's money, but their names weren't whited out on amended reports. "I didn't ask the institute to remove my name for the reports. Perhaps when I didn't cash the check they just decided to take my name off," Brown said.
In all, 16 legislators accepted $2,700 from the institute in 1996, records show. (See chart).
The institute also tried to give money to the PACs run by House and Senate Democratic and Republican leaders. Institute reports show Senate Republicans were sent $350, Senate Democrats $200, House Republicans $600 and House Democrats $400.
However, Senate Republicans and Democrats rejected the institute's money. But House Republicans accepted the institute's $600. House Democrats accepted $400, reports show.
Philip Morris offered much more cash in 1995 and 1996 than the institute, and much more was accepted by candidates. Philip Morris' Utah lobbyists are Sue and Cap Ferry. Cap Ferry is a former president of the state Senate.
Cap Ferry says Philip Morris didn't offer much more money in 1996 than in years past. "There's been no tidal wave of candidates not wanting to participate" by turning down contributions, Ferry said.
Philip Morris no longer has food production facilities in Utah, but the company tells Ferry there are 6,000 workers in the state who deliver Kraft Foods, Miller Beer or other Philip Morris food products. "And certainly dairy and other products produced here are used in their foods, so (Philip Morris) has a real presence here," Ferry said.
In all, Philip Morris offered $48,700 to 55 legislators and legislative candidates and the four House and Senate PACs in 1995 and 1996, reports show.
Out of the 43 legislators offered the cash, only seven rejected Philip Morris checks, records show. Rep. Sheryl Allen, R-Bountiful, accepted a $100 check and gave it to a Davis County school; Mayne gave his $200 Philip Morris check to the United Way.
Most legislative leaders were offered and accepted Philip Morris money. House Majority Leader Christine Fox, R-Lehi, rejected her $500 check, and House Majority Whip Kevin Garn, R-Layton, rejected his $400 check.
Fox is one of only two lawmakers who were offered and rejected both Tobacco Institute and Philip Morris funds.
"I was offered the checks and I declined to cash them," Fox said. "I don't believe in their cause (tobacco), so I decided not to take it."
Eight legislators who rejected Tobacco Institute checks took the Philip Morris money. In the Senate those include Beattie and Sen. Leonard Blackham; in the House, Brown, Steve Barth, Gene Davis, Peter Knudson, Susan Koehn and Ray Short.
Barth, now House minority whip, echoed Beattie's comments, saying he refused Tobacco Institute money but accepted Philip Morris' money because the first is pure tobacco donations and the second is a conglomerate with food operations in Utah.
But Barth added he didn't realize that tobacco made up 67 percent of Philip Morris' income. "That surprises me, I didn't know it was that much."
The House and Senate PACs of both parties took Philip Morris money.
The acceptance by the House and Senate PACs of tobacco money opens the way for legislators who rejected personal campaign contributions from cigarette-makers to still get some benefit from tobacco money, for all legislators who asked for money from their party PACs in 1996 got it.
Tobacco contributions to the House GOP PAC, The Committee for a House Republican Majority, made up 13 percent of the $58,900 the PAC gave to GOP House candidates in 1996, records show.
Thus, while Rep. Afton Bradshaw, R-Salt Lake, refused a $100 Philip Morris check offered to her personally, the House GOP PAC accepted $7,000 from Philip Morris over two years and $600 from the Tobacco Institute. Bradshaw, the only Republican to represent part of Democratic-leaning Salt Lake City and who traditionally has tough re-election races, took $2,400 from the House GOP PAC.
Bradshaw says there was no connection between the two. She didn't arrange to have tobacco money funneled through the PAC into her campaign. She didn't even know the House GOP PAC accepted tobacco contributions. "I'm opposed to (the PAC) doing that. But no one asked me, and I'm surprised that (tobacco contributions) made up 13 percent of the PAC. It's that high, is it?"
Bradshaw says she opposes tobacco use on public health grounds. "It's bad for you" to smoke tobacco. In her 1994 re-election race, Bradshaw accepted Philip Morris money. But she's since had a change of heart. "I don't take their money. When the lobbyists offer a check, I just refuse."
Brown says House Republicans haven't talked about taking tobacco money in their PAC, but likely will before the 1998 elections. Considering Utah's lawsuit and the concern by some GOP House members who rejected tobacco money, "that is something we need to talk about," Brown said.
Beattie personally runs the Republicans' Senate PAC. He says he rejected a Tobacco Institute $350 donation to the PAC, but accepted $6,000 in Philip Morris money "for the same reasons I personally rejected the institute money" but took Philip Morris. Beattie says he doesn't discuss with other GOP senators what contributions to accept in the PAC, he makes those decisions himself.
Senate minority leader Scott Howell says he's been assured by Philip Morris and RJR Nabisco lobbyists that contributions from those firms really come from food subsidiaries, not from the tobacco part of the companies. That's why the Senate Democratic PAC accepts the contributions, he says.
Beattie accepted a $2,000 donation from RJR Nabisco into the Senate GOP PAC in December 1995 because that firm, like Philip Morris, is a conglomerate with food interests in Utah.
The Senate Republicans and Democrats accepted RJR money, as did House Democrats. The House Republicans didn't cash the RJR check, but no one knows why. There may have been some kind of mixup, for the House GOP PAC accepted donations from anyone who gave, Brown says.
Nancy Sechrest is the lobbyist for RJR Nabisco in Utah. While the RJR PAC offered about $2,000 each to the House and Senate party PACs in December 1995, it gave no money to individual candidates in 1996.
Sechrest says that's because RJR is "very judicious" with its money. "I didn't think it was worth the bureaucracy (in RJR) of trying to get donations" to local candidates last year. "We're not like Philip Morris, who spreads money around to everyone," Sechrest said.
Frank Pignanelli was House minority leader in 1995 and 1996 and oversaw the fund-raising efforts for the minority PAC. "We did talk (among House Democrats) about accepting tobacco money. But we were desperate for funds. We'd gotten waxed" in the 1994 elections. "We decided not to turn any money back" where it could have then been given to GOP House candidates.
"Also, in 1995 (when the PAC took RJR Nabisco's $1,900) we hadn't heard about all the lying tobacco companies had been doing" before Congress and elsewhere, he said. Over two years, the House Democratic PAC accepted $5,300 from tobacco interests and passed those and other contributions along to House Democratic candidates.
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Additional Information
Tobacco donations
Y = Yes N = No
Phillip Tobacco
Legislator Morris Institute
Brian Allen Y - $200 Y - $100
Sheryl Allen Y - $100* --
Eli Anderson Y - $100 --
John Arrington Y - $100 --
Loretta Baca Y - $100 --
Steve Barth Y - $600 N - $200
Lane Beattie Y - $500 N - $200
Leonard Blackham Y - $400 N - $100
Bud Bowman Y - $200 Y - $100
Mel Brown Y - $1,000 N - $200
Judy Buffmire Y - $400 Y - $100
Dave Buhler Y - $200 --
Mary Carlson Y - $200 Y - $100
Orville Camahan Y - $200 --
Gene Daavis Y - $200 N - $100
Marda Dillree Y - $200 --
Mike Dimitrich Y - $500 Y - $950
Beverly Evans Y - $300 Y - $100
Mont Evans Y - $400 Y - $100
Brent Goodfellow Y - $500 Y - $100
James Gowans Y - $500 Y - $100
Brent Haymond Y - $400 --
Neal Hendrickson Y - $200 --
Bill Hickman Y - $400 --
John Holmgren Y - $400 Y - $100
Scott Howell Y - $200 --
Joe Hull Y - $600 --
Tom Hatch -- Y - $100
Dennis Iverson Y - $200 --
Dave Jones Y - $400 --
Lorin Jones Y - $200 --
Peter Knudson Y - $500 N - $100
Susan Koehn Y - $300 N - $100
Patricia Larson Y - $100 --
Ed Mayne Y - $200** Y - $100**
Craig Peterson Y - $900 --
Ray Short Y - $400 N - $100
Dave Steele Y - $200 --
Howard Stephenson Y - $500 Y - $350
Michael Styler Y - $200 --
Pete Suazo Y - $400 Y - $100
Dan Tuttle Y - $500 Y - $100
Michael Waddoups Y - $900 Y - $100
Refused Tobacco Money
Afton Bradshaw N - $100 --
Craig Buttars N - $100 --
Chris Fox N - $500 N - $100
Kevin Garn N - $400 --
Bryan Holladay N - $200 N - $100
Joe Murray N - $100 --
LaMont Tyler N - $100 --
* Gave to public school ** Gave to the United Way
Tobacco money and incumbent PACs
Phillip Tobacco RJR/
Morris Institute Nabisco
GOP House PAC took $7,000 took $600 never cashed $2,000
GOP Senate PAC* took $6,000 refused $350 took $2,000
Democratic House PAC took $3,000 took $400 took $1,900
Democratic Senate PAC took $2,500 took $200 took $1,900
** Accepted $150 from the smokeless tobacco PAC in 1995.