Altria - lobbying effort, spent more than $3.9 million in q2 2009..

September 8, 2009 - Altria Client Services Inc., on behalf of the nation’s biggest cigarette maker, spent more than $3.9 million in the second quarter to lobby for a bill that gives the Food and Drug Administration the authority to regulate the industry and other issues, according to a recent disclosure form.

Altria (MO - news - people) also lobbied the federal government on legislation involving health care issues and cigarette trafficking in the April-June period, according to the report filed July 20 with the House clerk’s office.

Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc. owns Marlboro maker Philip Morris USA and UST Inc. (UST - news - people), the U.S. leader in smokeless tobacco with brands such as Copenhagen and Skoal.

Altria had been a strong supporter of the bill that gives industry oversight to the FDA. In June, President Barack Obama signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act giving the FDA unprecedented authority over the tobacco industry.

Reference: Altria spent more than $3.9M lobbying gov’t in 2Q, US-Marlboro.com, 9/8/2009.