A federal judge in Missoula, Montana, denied a state representative’s attempts to block lobbyists from major cigarette manufacturers from engaging lawmakers on his bill, Wednesday (Feb. 26).
Rep. Ron Marshall, who also owns a vape shop, sued Altria and R.J. Reynolds in federal court earlier this month alleging the companies violated anti-lobbying provisions set out in a 1998 settlement. One of the bills lobbied against was H.B. 149 that would have required vaping products be removed from all-ages retailers like gas stations and sold only in age-restricted locations like liquor stores or vape shops. Marshall sponsored the bill.
U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen found that the settlement agreement forbids the states from assigning any enforcement of those anti-lobbying provisions to a third party. Therefore, Marshall did not have any legal footing to bring the lawsuit against Altria and R.J. Reynolds. The enforcement duties would typically belong to Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen, but Marshall said Knudsen “would have too great a conflict of interest to take up the case as both Altria and R.J. Reynolds were ‘platinum’ sponsors” of his inauguration party in January.
After the ruling, Marshall filed and was granted a dismissal of the case.