ALTRIA DEFENDS LOBBYING EFFORT
Altria Group Inc. Chief Executive Officer Louis C. Camilleri
yesterday defended the company's decision to fight a restaurant
smoking ban in Virginia, despite having previously said it would
not lobby on the issue.
Altria Group is the parent company of Henrico County-based
Philip Morris USA, the nation's top cigarette company and a
major local employer.
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine proposed the restaurant smoking ban as an
amendment to another bill passed by the General Assembly during
its recent legislative session. Camilleri told shareholders at
Altria's annual meeting in East Hanover, N.J., that the company
fought the proposed ban because it would have extended beyond
restaurants to include areas such as outdoor festivals.
"We felt [Kaine's] amendments were too draconian and extreme,"
Camilleri said during the meeting, which was webcast. . . .
Camilleri's comments came in response to questions by Anne
Morrow Donley, a tobacco-control activist from Richmond, who
said the company had gone back on a pledge not to lobby against
indoor smoking laws.
"You have broken that promise," Donley told Camilleri at the
meeting. "This year in Virginia, my home state, you intervened
more than once."
