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Former House Speaker Greg Curtis has been hired as a lobbyist to try to help beat back a major cigarette tax hike this legislative session.
Curtis, who lost his re-election bid last November, is working for Altria Client Services, the parent company of Phillip Morris USA, the largest tobacco company in the country, the maker of Marlboro cigarettes and numerous other brands.
The hiring of Curtis illustrates that tobacco companies are aggressively mobilizing to resist the cigarette tax increases proposed by the Legislature and Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.
Huntsman has said he wants the tax hiked from 69.5 cents a pack to $3, which would make it the largest cigarette tax in the country. Rep. Paul Ray and Sen. Allen Christensen are sponsoring legislation to raise the tax to $2, even with Arizona's and double any other surrounding state.
Advocates for the cigarette tax hike believe they have the votes to pass the hike to $2 and don't think the hiring of Curtis will make a major difference.
"He has a lot of experience and he had a lot of clout," said Sen. Allen Christensen, R-North Ogden, emphasizing the word "had."
"I'm sure he still has some sway with a lot of people, but he has lost his big stick," said Christensen.
Enlisting Curtis, who was elected in 1994 and selected as Speaker of the House in 2004, also points to a trend that legislators hope to address in a package of ethics reform legislation -- the revolving door through which legislators leave to become well-paid lobbyists.
Former Rep. Mark Walker, who left the Legislature after last session is back this year as a paid lobbyist, as are many former lawmakers who retired in past years.
There is bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate to impose a cooling off period of one year before former legislators or government officials could become hired lobbyists.
Curtis declined to comment, but his lobbyist registration filed Tuesday listed Altria as one of his clients, as well as the Utah Transit Authority, Intermountain Healthcare, Utah Sports Commission, Gold Cross Ambulance and Anderson Development.
"I don't think that really hurts us. They can hire whoever they want," said Rep. Paul Ray, R-Clearfield, the house sponsor of the tobacco tax hike. The question, he says, is not whether there will be a tobacco tax increase. "The question is: How much and where is it going to go?"
Ray wants the money raised to go toward tobacco-related health care costs and smoking cessation.
William Phelps, a spokesman for Altria, said that raising the tax on cigarettes by as much as $23 per 10-pack carton would drive smokers into neighboring states to buy their cigarettes.
"This is certainly an intense situation for Utah retailers near the state border who would be at a significant competitive disadvantage if the tax increase is approved," Phelps said. "The increase would impact their businesses and the jobs they provide."
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Curtis is the latest in a line of speakers to make the switch from lawmaker to lobbyist. Past speakers to make the switch were Craig Moody, Rob Bishop and Mel Brown.