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Smoking Ban Among Priorities of Lobbyists in 2014

Kentucky LRC

A public smoking ban that did not pass was among the top priorities  of Kentucky's highest paid lobbyists this year.

A Virginia-based tobacco company spent the most money lobbying the 2014 state legislature, followed by the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce and the Kentucky Hospital Association.

A spokesman for Altria, which owns brands such as Marlboro, Skoal and Black & Mild, said the company did not lobby against the smoking ban. He said it lobbied against a series of proposed cigarette excise taxes that did not pass.

The Chamber and the Hospital Association both lobbied for the smoking ban.

Overall lobbyist spending declined slightly to $8.7 million from the record $8.8 million in 2012. Most of that money was for lobbyist salaries, according to the Kentucky legislative ethics commission.

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