Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, May 22, 1990 TAG: 9005220180
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Other big spenders were tobacco interests and health groups that sparred over public smoking, drug manufacturers and pharmacists who battled over a Medicaid bill and the Virginia Education Association, which lobbied for higher teacher salaries and other teacher concerns.
More than 500 organizations had lobbyists at the session and 127 of them spent more than $10,000, according to the reports filed with the secretary of the commonwealth. The previous spending record was $3.8 million in 1988.
The reports cover lobbyists' spending from Nov. 15 to March 10, the last day of the two-month session.
Mobil spent $127,000 to lead eight oil companies that spent more than $10,000 each, primarily to lobby against a bill that would place restrictions on refiner-owned service stations.
The bill was signed into law by Gov. Douglas Wilder, but not before it was revised to remove some provisions that upset the oil industry.
Walter Marston Jr., Mobil's chief lobbyist, said the company spent about $70,000 on a mailing to 120,000 Mobil credit card holders in Virginia. About 11,000 contacted their legislators to protest the bill, he said.
"We feel that the effort was certainly worthwhile," Marston said.
The bill was supported by independent service station operators who complained that oil company-owned stations were unfair competitors.
As introduced by Sen. Elmon Gray, D-Sussex, the bill would have barred oil refiners from building new service stations in the state, but the House of Delegates changed that to a one-year moratorium.
The bill also would have allowed independent service stations to sell more than one brand of gasoline, but Wilder deleted that provision.
"The two worst features of the bill basically were taken out insofar as any permanent law is concerned," Marston said.
Other oil companies that spent more than $10,000 were Amoco Corp., $11,000; BP America $46,600; Chevron, $14,700; Crown Central Petroleum Corp., $40,370; Exxon Co. USA, $31,100; Shell Oil Co., $17,770; and Texaco Inc., $48,370.
The second biggest spender was the VEA, which had 46 registered lobbyists and spent $68,600.
The Virginia Pharmaceutical Association spent $61,840 and the Virginia Association of Chain Drug Stores Inc. spent $53,370 to lobby successfully for a bill that will allow some of the rising costs of Medicaid to be passed to drug manufacturers instead of pharmacists, said Robert Adams, lobbyist for the two pharmacists' groups.
The Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association spent $21,300.
A landmark bill to limit smoking in public prompted $45,530 in spending by the Tobacco Institute and $17,360 by the Tri-Agency Council, a coalition of lung, heart and cancer associations. A compromise bill that takes effect July 1 will limit smoking in large stores, restaurants, government buildings and other public places.
A bill to allow banks to sell insurance was carried over until next year after it faced heavy opposition from the insurance industry.
Top spenders in the industry were the American Insurance Association at $32,706 and the Independent Insurance Agents of Virginia at $30,525. The Virginia Bankers Association spent nearly $40,000.
Common Cause of Virginia reported spending $63,611 because it included 75 percent of its budget for the year, said Julie Lapham, executive director of the political reform lobbying group.
"We're trying to set an example and encourage others to do the same thing," Lapham said.
The $4 million total reported to the state "is the tip of the iceberg," she said. "Lobbying is a year-round event."
A bill to require lobbyists to report their spending for 12 months instead of four was killed two years ago by the Senate Rules Committee.
a
by CNB