Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, October 26, 1993 TAG: 9310260117
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
The lobbying organization is eliminating roughly three dozen jobs - 17 in Washington and the rest in field offices, said spokesman Thomas Lauria.
The cuts involve positions from secretary to senior executives in public relations, lobbying and administration, he said. An interest-group directory lists the institute's current staff size at 83.
"As member companies respond to economic realities, they expect their lobbying arm to function under the same constraints," Lauria said.
The association also is taking a new look at the numbers of outside consultants it hires for various programs and lobbying efforts and may reshuffle in that area as well, he said.
The tobacco industry has been under increasing pressure over the health effects of smoking, and state and local ordinances restricting smoking have proliferated.
Last week the Clinton administration confirmed that it intends to finance a major part of its proposed health care reform by raising the tax on cigarettes from 24 cents to 99 cents a pack.
Institute President Samuel D. Chilcote Jr. denied that the proposed new tax had anything to do with the cutbacks. "The health care package is not going into our thinking," he said.
Lauria said the Tobacco Institute's political action committee, which gives campaign contributions to candidates, will be unaffected by the cuts, as will an annual winter legislative conference in Palm Springs, Calif., where lawmakers are entertained with golf and tennis.
by CNB