Groups spend big money in advertising and legal fees

Vermont is getting the kind of attention from associations usually reserved for California, with one group pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the state to fight proposed soda taxes and others engaged in a major legal battle over a new law requiring labels on foods containing genetically modified organisms.

The American Beverage Association has spent nearly $600,000 in Vermont since the beginning of the year lobbying against a proposed tax on sweetened beverages, according to the Burlington (Vt.) Free Press. More than half of that amount went toward outreach and advertising, including social media and the launch of a website to gather petitions against the tax.

Vermont lawmakers killed the proposed tax earlier this year during the state legislative session. http://bfpne.ws/1ODL0DM

Still alive is a Vermont law that would make the state the first in the country to require labels on GMO foods. On Monday, a federal judge ruled against the Grocery Manufacturers Association and three other groups that were seeking a preliminary injunction against the law taking effect in June of next year, the newspaper reported.

The lawsuit will move forward, but so will implementation of the labeling law. The groups contend the law is unconstitutional and imposes "burdensome new speech requirements on food manufacturers and retailers."

In addition to GMA, the other groups involved in the lawsuit are the Snack Foods Association, International Dairy Foods Association and National Association of Manufacturers. http://bfpne.ws/1EozMLy

California—no stranger to passing controversial laws—is usually the state that is the focus of associations' ire. On Tuesday, Biotechnology Industry Association CEO Jim Greenwood issued a statement warning California lawmakers against passing legislation requiring drug companies to report what factors help push up the cost of certain drugs.

"The costs of developing new therapies continues to increase, as clinical trials and other drug development processes become more complex, expensive and time consuming," Greenwood said. "While this reality is unlikely to change in the near future, it should be noted that drugs and biologics represent only around 10 percent of American health care costs, a figure that has held steady over the years." http://yhoo.it/1IncEQn

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