Money No Object As Time Runs Short On Measure 50 Campaign

Source from:  By Kristian Foden-Vencil November 5, 2007 11/06/2007

With Election Day looming, two out-of-state tobacco companies continue to flood the state with an unprecedented sum of cash to fight Measure 50. Kristian Foden-Vencil reports. Measure 50 would raise state tobacco taxes to pay for the Healthy Kids Program. Until it came along, Oregon's most expensive initiative campaign spent $7 million. So far, big tobacco has spent nearly $12 million. OPB political analyst, Bill Lunch. Bill Lunch: "One could say, I suppose, that this is an attempt to buy the election. From the point of view of the tobacco companies, of course, they will say it's simply an attempt to get their message out. But clearly, they've expended truly extraordinary and quite unprecedented sums on this campaign against Measure 50." Tobacco industry ads claim that 70 percent of the money raised by Measure 50 won't go to the Healthy Kids Plan. Measure 50 supporters point out that the money can't all go to the plan in the first year, because it takes time to enroll 100,000 uninsured kids. Enditem