Big Alcohol Spends a Million Dollars a Month Lobbying Congress

In just the first three months of 2010, six of the biggest lobbying agencies for Big Alcohol spent nearly $3 million dollars lobbying both houses of Congress as well as other government agencies, according to various Associated Press sources.

The deepest pockets? That would be the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States (DISCUS), which spent $1.18 million on behalf of members such as Bacardi USA and Brown-Forman; along with Diageo and Anheuser-Busch, each competing with $670,000 in lobbying dollars on such alcohol-related issues as alcohol taxes, drunk driving, and underage drinking. Rounding out the top six big spenders were Wine & Spirits Wholesalers, which tossed in $240K; Pernod Ricard, clocking in at $180K; and the Beer Institute, which managed $110K, a number that for this group actually sounds rather meager.

Where did these millions go? Besides each of these firms using its lobbying dollars to influence Congress, they also either individually or collectively lobbied the Federal Trade Commission, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Treasury Department, the Department of Commerce, the U.S. Trade Representative, the Food and Drug Administration, and other agencies.

For what alcohol-related issues did these agencies lobby? Universally, the biggie was taxes, with all six agencies reporting lobbying dollars spent on excise and/or alcohol taxes. Other cross-over lobbying dollars were spent to influence alcohol issues such as underage drinking, drunk driving, food safety, transportation, and trade.

These groups also reported spending on issues such as state beverage laws, health policies, renewable power, labor issues, bailouts, and health care reform.

Given the historically low amounts of both federal and state alcohol taxes that the alcohol industry pays (see Neglected and Outdated State Beer Taxes) as well as the continuing erosion of other alcohol regulations that protect public health, it would seem that Big Alcohol is getting a lot of bang for their lobbying bucks.

AP Links:

Distilled Spirits Group Spent $1.18M on 1Q Lobby

Diageo Spent $670,000 Lobbying Gov't in 1Q

Anheuser-Busch Spent $670K Lobbying Gov't in 1Q

Wine & Spirits Wholesalers Spent $240K on Lobbying

Pernod Ricard spent $180,000 Lobbying in 1Q

Beer Institute Spent $110K Lobbying Gov't in 1Q