Groups Spar Over Measure 50 Ads

Source from:  news.opb.org By Andrew Theen September 11, 2007 09/13/2007

Oregon's special election is still two months away, but the gloves are already off. Measure 50, the Healthy Kids Measure is at the forefront Tuesday with a new ad. It comes on the heels of one released last week by opponents of the measure that sparked some controversy. Andrew Theen reports. Measure 50 would raise the cigarette tax by 85 cents per pack. That money would go toward health insurance for kids. The cigarette tax isn't a new issue; the state legislature debated it at length this session before sending it to voters. But now, Oregonians are starting to see some hard-hitting ads. Last week it was this. Commercial: "HMOS and health insurers are behind Measure 50, rewriting Oregon's constitution to increase the tobacco tax." And the latest is this: Commercial: "Don't Let Big Tobacco sell Oregon a pack of lies, vote Yes on Healthy Kids." Cathy Kaufmann is the spokesperson for Healthy Kids Oregon. She says tobacco companies are trying to pull a fast one on Oregonians. Cathy Kaufmann: "We expect to see nothing but dirty tricks out of Tobacco. And we're going to keep putting the facts out there. When Tobacco lies we want Oregon to know about it. And we're also going to keep putting facts out there about what Measure 50 really will do for Oregonians." J.L Wilson is a spokesman for the no campaign. He says it's not true that tobacco companies are hiding their involvement in the anti-50 campaign. He readily admits RJ American, parent company of RJ Reynolds, funded the commercials. It's contributed about $1.7 million to the campaign so far. He says big tobacco companies, like Reynolds and Phillip Morris have a right to campaign. J.L. Wilson: "Their customers are being asked to fund a program that every Oregonian should be asked to fund, a program. And why it is that a children's program that benefits all Oregon children only falls on the shoulders of those who choose to smoke is an unfair policy." Wilson said some television networks chose to pull the ads because it wasn't apparent RJ American was behind the commercials. He said that is now cleared up. Cathy Kauffman says the Healthy Kids Oregon ad is "a warning" to Big Tobacco. Expect the fireworks to continue. Enditem