Memo Tells Plan to Block Smoking Bans : Legislation: Document attributed to tobacco industry circulates in Sacramento. It outlines bill to preempt local actions by giving ‘appearance’ of creating state controls.

SACRAMENTO —  Tobacco industry officials this summer mapped out a strategy to preempt local smoking bans with a law that would have the “appearance” of placing statewide controls over tobacco use, according to a memo attributed to the tobacco industry.

Two weeks later, a bill like the one outlined in the June 28 memo was introduced by Assemblyman Gerald N. Felando (R-San Pedro) and began moving through the Legislature over the strong objections of anti-smoking advocates.

Tobacco industry representatives could not be reached Monday to confirm the authenticity of the memo. But opponents--including the California branches of the American Cancer Society, the American Heart Assn. and the American Lung Assn.--were circulating it widely in the state Capitol as part of an all-out campaign to kill the bill, which they characterize as a legislative Trojan horse for the tobacco industry.

The measure is scheduled for a crucial vote Wednesday at the Assembly Ways and Means Committee.

The six-page memo, purportedly written by Michael J. Kerrigan, president of the Smokeless Tobacco Council, details a 90-minute telephone conversation between tobacco executives in Washington, D.C., and lobbyists in Sacramento.

At one point, the memo raises the question of whether Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) helped the tobacco industry behind the scenes with its controversial bill. A Brown spokesman denied any involvement by the Speaker.

The memo spells out industry concern about the growing tide of tough no-smoking ordinances being adopted by cities and counties. So far, 229 California localities have banned smoking in restaurants, work places and other enclosed areas, according to the Berkeley-based Americans for Non-Smokers Rights.

During the conference call, the memo said, officials of such tobacco giants as Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds expressed their concern about the trend and discussed how they could use the Legislature for a “preemptive strike” that would prevent additional cities and counties from doing the same.

The legislation described in the memo would, if enacted, override local control, permitting the State Board of Equalization to license tobacco companies and distributors in much the same way the state licenses establishments selling alcohol. Under the industry’s plan, the state could suspend a tobacco license if it found evidence of selling cigarettes to minors or other infractions.

Anti-tobacco advocates say that while such a plan would appear to strictly control tobacco use, it would be difficult to enforce and easily circumvented.

According to the memo, the idea of introducing such legislation “evolved” in part from a visit Brown paid to cigarette executives during a New York City trip last fall.

Quoting Philip Morris lobbyist Joseph L. Lang, the memo said Brown indicated to executives that preempting local control could be carried out in an omnibus “tobacco control act” that “would have to have the ‘appearance’ of a comprehensive scheme.”

The memo said later that Brown and another legislator “would attempt to make the tobacco control act as close as possible in ‘appearance’ to the concepts that the anti-tobacco groups were fostering.”

The tobacco officials, according to the memo, even talked about how to present the proposed legislation to their own retailers, who would be state licensed under the proposal. An R.J. Reynolds executive, identified as Roger Mozingo, was quoted in the memo as saying, “the concept behind the bill was to be that the tobacco companies appeared to be against the bill.”

A spokesman for Brown late Monday acknowledged that the Speaker made a courtesy call on a tobacco company during last year’s visit. But he denied that Brown assisted tobacco executives in their strategy. “He has indicated that he did not do what this memo purports,” said press secretary Michael Reese.

Mark Pertschuck, director of Americans for Non-Smokers Rights, said the memo “represents a remarkable level of tobacco industry influence in California state politics.”

Felando, who introduced the omnibus smoking legislation July 12, said he is not working with tobacco interests on his controversial bill, although he agreed it would stop cities and counties from enacting local nonsmoking ordinances two months after if it is signed into law.