Tobacco company provides travel to Richardson
ALBUQUERQUE --A Connecticut-based tobacco company that lobbied the New Mexico Legislature this year for tax changes provided Gov. Bill Richardson with tens of thousands of dollars worth of free jet airplane flights, an Albuquerque Journal review of Democratic Governors Association records showed.
The newspaper reported the findings in a copyright story in Sunday's editions.
The company, UST, is the parent corporation of the firm that makes Skoal and Copenhagen, among other brands.
The five free flights provided to Richardson through the association, which he chairs, in 2005 and early 2006 were worth more than $40,000, the newspaper reported.
A tax change bill, sponsored by Richardson's chief legislative ally, House Speaker Ben Lujan, proposed linking chewing tobacco tax to weight.
New Mexico currently taxes the tobacco at 25 percent of the manufacturer's price, meaning higher-priced products such as Skoal and Copenhagen are taxed more than budget brands.
Under Lujan's bill, a budget brand of the same weight would have carried the same tax as a can of Skoal.
The measure passed the House after a state financial impact report to lawmakers drastically was changed using UST's numbers, but it died in the Senate. Critics said it exclusively would have benefited UST.
"We called it a sweetheart deal for UST," said Cheryl Ferguson, spokeswoman for the New Mexicans Concerned about Tobacco coalition. "They control almost three-quarters of the spit tobacco market. They are the big dog on the porch, if you will."
Mike Bazinet, spokesman for Greenwich, Conn.-based UST, acknowledged the bill would have favored UST.
Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for Richardson, said the governor never was briefed on Lujan's bill and had no position on it. Lujan also defended the bill and said he never asked Richardson whether he supported the measure.
Shipley said Richardson's DGA travel arrangements have had no influence on the governor's policy decisions.
"There's no strings attached," he said. "The governor always puts the interests of New Mexico first."
Bazinet wouldn't discuss specific flights but said a lobbyist often rides along when the company ferries politicians.
State records show UST has four registered lobbyists for New Mexico.
Bazinet also said the company doesn't solicit trips for politicians, rather, it responds to requests for travel.
"In this case, the request comes from the DGA," he said.
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Information from: Albuquerque Journal
