RESOLVED: Shareholders request that Altria annually analyze and report on the congruence of both political spending and lobbying expenditures during the preceding year, compared to its public Vision, Responsibility Focus Areas and Cultural Aspirations statements, listing and explaining instances of incongruent or misaligned expenditures, and reporting whether the identified incongruencies will lead to changes in future expenditures.
WHEREAS: A New York Times article, “Big Tobacco Heralds a Healthier World While Fighting Its Arrival”, [1] reported: “Major cigarette companies, like Altria and R.J. Reynolds, acknowledge that cigarettes are dangerous and addictive, and they are heralding their investments in electronic cigarettes and other less-harmful alternatives to cigarettes. But, behind the scenes , they are taking steps to slow the very smokeless future they claim to want: The companies have submitted letters protesting the proposed menthol ban in traditional cigarettes, and they have signaled they will similarly resist any efforts to lower nicotine levels.”
Altria is a long-time supporter of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), an organization that brings together corporate lobbyists and legislators and drafts model legislation for state and federal legislators to propose. It is one of the top corporate sponsors of ALEC’s annual conference. Altria’s senior director of government affairs spoke at ALEC’s 2023 conference, and, according to an article by the Center for Media and Democracy, urged “state lawmakers to deregulate the tobacco industry despite the lethal, addictive nature of its products, which are responsible for nearly 500,000 death a year in the U.S.”[2]
Altria also supports initiatives conflicting with its environmental commitments, one of its Responsibility Focus Areas.[3] Altria set science-based greenhouse gas reduction targets yet is a member of the US Chamber of Commerce as well as ALEC, both of which lobbied to roll back specific climate regulations and regulations to slow the transition towards a lower-carbon economy.
While Altria has articulated support for the right to vote[4], the League of Women Voters and over 300 organizations sent a letter to Altria and other corporations to stop funding ALEC because of its voter restriction efforts.[5]
Altria does not disclose the amount of payments to trade associations (TAs) and social welfare groups (SWGs). Companies can give unlimited amounts to TAs and SWGs that spend millions on lobbying. The federal Lobbying Disclosure Act doesn’t require reporting of state lobbying.
While Altria scores well on the Center for Political Accountability (CPA)’s Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability, it has not adopted CPA’s Model Code of Conduct[6], which includes: “disclose dues and other payments made to trade associations and contributions to other tax-exempt organizations that are or that it anticipates will be used for political expenditures. The disclosures shall describe the specific political activities undertaken.”[7]
Altria’s 2022 Lobbying and Political Activity Transparency and Integrity Report provides very useful information; our proposal would close a critical gap in information provided and greatly enhance transparency .
[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/06/health/tobacco-fda-menthol-bannicotine.html?smid=em-share
[2] https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2023/08/21/tobacco-giant-altria-buys-access-to-aleclawmakers-urges-deregulation/
[3] https://www.altria.com/responsibility/protect-the-environment?src=resp-at-a-glance
[4] https://www.altria.com/about-altria/our-voice-and-actions/where-we-stand-on-votingrights
[5] https://www.commoncause.org/press-release/common-cause-fair-fight-action-andover-300-organizations-call-on-corporations-to-cut-ties-with-alec/
[6] https://www.politicalaccountability.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CPA-ZicklinModel-Code-of-Conduct-for-Corporate-Political-Spending.pdf
[7] https://www.politicalaccountability.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/CPA-ZicklinModel-Code-of-Conduct-for-Corporate-Political-Spending.pdf