Objective

To determine state legislators' perceptions about health and tobacco lobbyists, their frequency of contact with these lobbyists, and the amount of campaign contributions from health professional organisations and the tobacco industry.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Subjects

State legislators from North Carolina, Texas, and Vermont (USA), serving in 1994.

Main outcome measures

Perceptions about lobbyists representing the tobacco industry, non-profit health organisations, and state medical societies with respect to their credibility, importance as sources of information, and persuasiveness; extent of lobbying activities; campaign contributions from health professional organisations and the tobacco industry.

Results

Almost all legislators reported that medical society and non-profit health organisation lobbyists are credible on tobacco issues and just over half believed that these lobbyists are important sources of information. More legislators said they could be persuaded by medical and health lobbyists than by tobacco lobbyists. Although health professional Political Action Committees (PACs) gave campaign contributions to more state legislators, and gave higher amounts on average, than tobacco PACs, legislators reported less contact with medical society lobbyists than tobacco lobbyists about tobacco issues.

Conclusions

State legislators have positive attitudes toward lobbyists for non-profit health organisations and state medical societies regarding tobacco issues. These groups may be an underused resource for educating legislators about tobacco control measures.