Posted on 01/18/2004 1:05:43 PM PST by CedarDave
January 15, 2004
Lobbyist: Corporation Provides Air Travel For Richardson
By Barry Massey
The Associated Press
SANTA FE A subsidiary of a tobacco and food conglomerate paid nearly $17,000 for air travel by Gov. Bill Richardson and several of his aides on an out-of-state trip last year.
The travel was reported by a lobbyist for Altria Corporate Services Inc., a subsidiary of Altria Group Inc. the New York-based parent of the world's largest cigarette company, Philip Morris.
The company provided travel to Washington and Chicago in late September on "corporate aircraft" for Richardson and four aides, according to a report filed this week by the lobbyist, Jack Dillard, with the secretary of state's office.
The cost of the travel was $16,987, and was based on the equivalent of providing first class tickets for the governor and his aides, according to the report.
Billy Sparks, a spokesman for the governor, could not immediately provide comment on the travel provided by Altria.
The lobbying report listed dates of Sept. 24-25 for the expenditures.
Richardson attended a Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute gala on the evening of Sept. 24 in Washington, according to a news release at the time. At the event, Richardson and others received awards for community service and leadership. The following day, Richardson met in Santa Fe with Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.
Organizers of the gala asked Altria to provide transportation for Richardson to Washington because his tight schedule would not allow him to attend the event if he flew commercially, said David Sylvia, director of external communications for Altria Corporate Services.
The corporation's jetliner flew Richardson to Washington on Sept. 24 and the next morning took him to Chicago and then to New Mexico, Sylvia said.
The governor's office arranged with the company for the stop in Chicago because Richardson had a previously arranged meeting in the city, Sylvia said.
"From time to time, we will get requests from selected state officials to see if they can use our plane," Sylvia said in a telephone interview.
"Just with other ways of working with elected officials who are generally in support of us . . . it's another opportunity for us to be able to help them out," Sylvia said.
Last year, Philip Morris Companies Inc., the New York tobacco and food company, changed its name to Altria. Critics said it was a move to downplay its tobacco interests. The conglomerate's tobacco companies still use the Philip Morris name. Its food group is Kraft Foods Inc.
The governor's office has been tight-lipped about how Richardson travels on out-of-state trips, generally declining to say whether he uses corporate aircraft or commercial flights. The governor and Sparks have cited security concerns as a reason for not providing that information.
Some of the governor's out-of-state trips have been paid for a political action committee formed last year by Richardson. The PAC, Moving America Forward, has received most of its contributions from national labor unions, according to the group's latest campaign finance report.All content copyright © ABQJournal.com and Albuquerque Journal
Gonna be a very long list.
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