煙草在線據《信使報》報道編譯　　煙草巨頭奧馳亞（菲莫美國和美國無煙煙草公司的母公司）在試圖影響肯塔基州聯合大會（譯者注：即肯塔基州立法機構）上比任何企業或協會的花費都大。

　　肯塔基州立法機構倫理委員會本周（9.14-9.20）發布的報告顯示，截至2014年8月31日，奧馳亞在游說肯塔基州立法者上花費了239,590美元。

　　肯塔基州商會名列第二，在2014年前8個月內用于游說立法者的費用為226,638美元。

　　大約有660個企業、協會及其他組織注冊對肯塔基州立法機構進行游說。每個單位必須定期向立法倫理委員會匯報它們在游說上的花費。

　　據悉，660個組織在2014年1月1日至8月31日期間，在游說肯塔基州立法者上的總費用超過1210萬美元。

　　大部分費用花費在對這些組織雇傭的法蘭克福游說者的報酬上。

　　9月15日是這些組織報告它們在5月1日至8月31日期間游說費用的最后期限。肯塔基州立法機構在此期間休會，但是游說仍在臨時立法議會和夏季州外立法例會上進行。

　　2014年年初，總部位于弗吉尼亞里士滿的奧馳亞公司在立法會期期間成功游說了幾個小的議案。該公司在反對提高卷煙稅和對電子煙征稅上進行了成功游說。立法者通過了煙草業支持的議案，即禁止向未成年出售電子煙。

　　但奧馳亞的發言人表示，該公司并未對所謂的“無煙”議案進行游說。這項議案擬禁止在酒吧和餐館等室內公共場所吸煙。這項議案因眾議院沒有進行投票而被擱置。

US: Tobacco Giant Altria Spends Most on Lobbying

　　Tobacco giant Altria, parent of Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, continues to spend more money than any corporation or association in trying influence the Kentucky General Assembly.

　　Reports filed this week with the Kentucky Legislative Ethics Commission show that through Aug. 31 this year, Altria spent $239,590 in lobbying Kentucky lawmakers.

　　The Kentucky Chamber of Commerce is second on the list, reporting spending of $226,638 during the same eight-month period.

　　About 660 corporations, associations and other groups are registered to lobby the General Assembly. Each must report periodically to the Legislative Ethics Commission on how much they spend on lobbying.

　　Together, the 660 groups have reported spending more than $12.1 million lobbying Kentucky lawmakers between Jan. 1 and Aug. 31.

　　The vast majority of this money is spent as compensation to Frankfort lobbyists employed by the groups.

　　Monday was the deadline for the groups to report their lobbying costs for the period between May 1 and Aug. 31. The General Assembly was not in session during those four months, but lobbying continued at interim legislative meetings and at summer out-of-state legislative conventions.

　　Altria, based in Richmond, Va., successfully lobbied on a small list of bills in the legislative session earlier this year. It successfully worked against raising the cigarette tax and against new taxes on electronic cigarettes. And lawmakers passed the tobacco industry-supported version of the bill to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors.

　　But Altria's spokesman has said the company did not lobby against the so-called "smoke-free" bill. That bill would have banned smoking in indoor public places like bars and restaurants. That bill stalled when not given a vote on the House floor. Enditem