By Saundra Torry
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, December 20, 1997; Page A02

The tobacco industry, gearing up to do battle over a proposed national settlement with opponents, spent $15.8 million employing 186 different lobbyists to press its views on tobacco-related issues in the first half of this year, according to a study by Public Citizen, a consumer group founded by Ralph Nader.

Public Citizen, which opposes the $368.5 billion tobacco deal, said the companies and industry lobbying organizations used 37 in-house representatives and 149 outside lawyers and lobbyists in that period -- "unleashing more than one lobbyist for every three members of Congress." Much of the money, more than $9.4 million, was spent on the outside lobbyists, Public Citizen found by culling through lobby fee disclosures filed in Congress.

"Big tobacco is hiring some expensive guns to lobby for its dangerous deal," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook, who added that much more would likely be spent "if this legislation comes to the fore" in 1998. "As someone who used to work for the industry told me, 'There is never too much for the industry to spend.' "

The industry is in a monumental fight over the multifaceted tobacco deal reached June 20 after negotiations with state attorneys general, private lawyers and some public health representatives. The industry agreed to broad marketing restrictions and payments of $368.5 billion over 25 years in exchange for protection against a wide range of lawsuits. The deal must be approved by Congress, where jockeying over the proposal already has begun.

An industry spokesman contested Public Citizen's characterization of the expenditures as tobacco-related, saying that the industry "has many, many business activities beyond just tobacco."

Further, said spokesman Scott Williams, as part of the proposed settlement, the industry would pay at least $1 billion annually for smoking-cessation programs and another $500 million a year for anti-smoking marketing campaigns.

"Any expenditure that can deliver that kind of positive development in the public health community is worth the investment" for passage, Williams said.

Critics of large lobbying expenditures have said that the tobacco industry gains extra influence by combining its lobbying effort with huge campaign contributions. For instance, in the first six months of this year, the industry contributed more than $1.9 million to political party committees and another $587,000 to candidates -- the vast majority to Republicans, according to a study by Common Cause.

In the lobbying arena, Philip Morris Co. Inc. led its competitors, spending about $7 million in the six-month period, according to the Public Citizen report. In second place was RJR Nabisco Inc., which spent just more than $2 million.

Public Citizen also found that the industry's lobbyists include some of Washington's most influential former lawmakers, as well as former aides to current members of Congress.

Former Senate majority leader George N. Mitchell, a Democrat, played a role in the negotiations on tobacco's behalf, and the industry has since retained former Republican Senate majority leader Howard Baker. The Smokeless Tobacco Council's in-house staff includes Jeffrey L. Schlagenhauf, former aide to House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas J. Bliley Jr. (R-Va.), who may play a critical role in molding tobacco legislation.

According to Public Citizen, the lobbyists themselves are also major political donors. This year, the tobacco lobbyists gave more than $345,000 to candidates, political parties and political action committees at their own firms, according to Public Citizen's inspection of the most recent campaign finance reports available. About 54 percent of their donations went to Republicans, 46 percent to Democrats.