Report details tobacco industry’s control over state public policy | MEMORY | Colorado Politics

Twenty years ago this week: Colorado residents were stunned by the release of a report by the American Respiratory Association that detailed tobacco industry political activity in Colorado dating back to the 1980s.

Tobacco Industry Involvement in Colorado authors Anne Landman and Peter Bialick said it was crucial to understand how tobacco policy changed through the legislative process in Colorado.

Landman and Bialick released their report following a year-long examination of internal tobacco industry documents that were released after the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement.

According to Landman, the tobacco industry had a “siege castle mentality” regarding smoking control practices and the enactment of regulations at the local and state levels.

The report revealed an internal tobacco company document that boasted about the industry’s influence in the Colorado General Assembly and its ability to block bills it didn’t like.

According to the report, out-of-state tobacco companies spent “$2.08 million to oppose the 1990 tax bill” that would have increased the cigarette tax by 25 cents per pack. The companies also legally challenged the initiative’s title and the validity of the signatures.

Another 1992 resolution sought to raise the cigarette tax by 35 cents, but with a pending lawsuit over the 1990 signatures, “there was little time left to coordinate signature collection before the election and the resolution did not become law,” Landman wrote.

Fast forward to 1994, and tobacco companies had another success, spending more than $5.3 million to oppose the 50-cent tax initiative and operating through “front groups” to “conceal their involvement in initiative campaigns and to mask their opposition to smoking restrictions and tax measures by channeling opposition through more credible allies.”

“We are the second lowest state tax in the country,” said Mike Melanson of Citizens for a Healthier Colorado. “I will read the Landman report carefully. There is information in it that will be beneficial and will help us prepare for the dirty tactics of the tobacco industry.”

Melanson was optimistic about the chances of success of a 2004 initiative to raise the cigarette tax by 64 cents.

“Both smokers and nonsmokers support the CHC’s goals of preventing tobacco use among children and creating new funding for health care,” Melanson said.

Ten years ago: After vocally supporting gun control measures in 2013, state Senate President John Morse, a Colorado Springs Democrat, became the first state legislator removed from office in a special recall election and was replaced by Sen. Bernie Herpin, a Colorado Springs Republican.

Former Rep. Mike Merrifield, D-Manitou Springs, was tapped by the Democratic Party to lead the effort to replace Herpin. Turnout in the special election was just 21 percent, but Merrifield was confident that a general election would force many more of the party’s voters to the polls.

Merrifield said his strategy also involved winning over independent voters, who made up nearly 40% of registered voters in the district.

“Michael is well-known here,” said Christy Le Lait, executive director of the El Paso County Democratic Party. “That’s what’s going to matter.

“Very few people voted for Herpin,” Morse said. “We tried to tell people that even in a recall, yes, you can throw me out for one session, but the laws stand and the Democrats will be back in 2014. That’s exactly what’s going to happen. I didn’t make it up then and I’m not making it up now.”

Minority Leader Sen. Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, told The Colorado Statesman that “Bernie Herpin is a great candidate, a great senator, and he has a phenomenal reputation for public service in this community. So we’re more and more excited about this opportunity.”

Rachael Wright is the author of the Captain Savva series of crime novels. She holds degrees in political science and history from Colorado Mesa University. She is also a contributing writer for Colorado Politics and The Colorado Springs Gazette.