Toomey's SMerck®:

February 14, 2007

Experts At A Loss To Explain
How Governor Got HPV Bug

 

The Capitol has been abuzz since Governor Rick Perry issued an executive order on February 2 directing prepubescent Texas girls to get vaccinated for sexually-transmitted viruses that can cause cervical cancer. At the heart of the controversy is a central question unaddressed here: Should the state mandate this vaccine? Auxiliary Who? When? and How? questions have fanned the controversy further.

There would have been much less controversy if the governor had promoted the vaccine differently. It would have been different if he fast-tracked vaccine-mandate legislation—rather than resorting to executive fiat. It would have been different if he had held a prime-time press conference—rather than issuing a statement late on the Friday preceding the Super Bowl. He further invited controversy by granting vaccine maker Merck & Co. a statewide monopoly without concessions—rather than negotiating a deep vaccine discount for poor Texans. Finally, there would have been fewer questions if this initiative came from a longtime champion of women’s health—rather than an official previously AWOL on health policies.

Governor Perry’s uncharacteristic executive order has fostered endless speculation about what occurred behind the scenes. Much of this speculation has focused on Merck’s political connections and money trail.

Merck launched a major state push after a U.S. Centers for Disease Control panel unanimously endorsed administering the vaccine in late July 2006.

Two months later Merck’s PAC spent $74,250 in a single day to influence elections in five states. It directed 60 percent of that money to 82 candidates in Texas.¹

Texas has a much larger vaccine market for the human papilloma virus (HPV) than the other four states Merck invested in last fall. The droves of Texas lawmakers that Merck targeted suggest that it initially planned to shepherd a vaccine bill through the legislature. Apparently concluding that this strategy would fail, Merck’s lobby then called for a gubernatorial sneak.

Merck’s PAC donations last September accounted for 82 percent of the $53,950 that that it injected into Texas during the entire 2006 election cycle. During this September surge, Merck PAC increased its investment in Governor Perry from $1,000 to $6,000. Meanwhile five other Texas candidates immediately returned a total of $2,750 to Merck’s PAC.²

Merck PAC Money
To States (Sept. 2006)

State	Amount
Texas	$44,500
Pennsylvania	$12,750
North Carolina	$12,000
Oklahoma	$3,500
Iowa	$1,500
TOTAL:	$74,250

 

Merck PAC Contributions in Texas (2005 and 2006)

Amount	Candidate	Party	Office
$6,000	Rick Perry	R	Governor
$2,500	Susan Combs	R	Comptroller
$2,500	Tom Craddick	R	Speaker
$2,500	David Dewhurst	R	Lt. Governor
$2,000	John Whitmire	D	S-15
$1,000	Kip Averitt	R	S-22
$1,000	†John Carona	R	S-16
$1,000	•John Davis	R	H-129
$1,000	†Dianne Delisi	R	H-55
$1,000	Robert L. Duncan	R	S-28
$1,000	Craig Estes	R	S-30
$1,000	Troy Fraser	R	S-24
$1,000	†Mario Gallegos	D	S-6
$1,000	Glenn Hegar	R	S-18
$1,000	†Kyle Janek	R	S-17
$1,000	*Frank Madla	D	S-19
$1,000	Jim Pitts	R	H-10
$1,000	Florence Shapiro	R	S-8
$1,000	Carlos Uresti	D	S-19
$1,000	Leticia Van De Putte	D	S-26
$1,000	Jeff Wentworth	R	S-25
$1,000	†Royce West	D	S-23
$1,000	†Judith Zaffirini	D	S-21

Link to table listing all Merck contributions

Merck's 2007 Texas Lobbyists

Merck Lobbyist	Value of Merck Contract
Holly duBois Jacques	$100,000 - $150,000
Lara Laneri Keel	$25,000 - $50,000
Michael Toomey	$25,000 - $50,000
TOTAL:	$150,000 - $250,000

Merck so far has agreed to pay a total of up to $250,000 to three Texas lobbyists this year, which doubled what it spent in 2006. Merck’s associate director of state government affairs in Austin is Holly Jacques, who also is registered to lobby for Merck in Oklahoma.³

Merck’s Texas Lobby, 1995-2007

To assist Jacques, Merck retains Texas Lobby Group partners Lara Laneri Keel and Valens “Mike” Toomey—who was Governor Perry’s roommate when the two men served in the Texas House in the 1980s.

Because of their long, close relationship, many capitol insiders believe that the governor contracted the HPV-vaccine bug from Toomey.

Except for when he served as Governor Perry’s chief of staff in 2003 and 2004, Toomey has lobbied for Merck every year since 1995. During his lobby hiatus in the governor’s office, Toomey parked his clients with two lobby colleagues.⁴ He then revived this client list upon returning to the lobby in late 2004.

Just before joining Governor Perry’s staff, Toomey participated in the 2002 electoral strategy sessions of the now-indicted Texans for a Republican Majority PAC (TRMPAC) and Texas Association of Business (TAB). His lobby partner, Lara Laneri Keel, lobbied for TAB during that controversial period. ⁵

Toomey, Keel and their firm spent another $135,968 on Texas’ 2006 elections. Attorney General Greg Abbott was a top recipient of Texas Lobby Group money ($12,500). His office is drafting an opinion on whether or not Governor Perry has the authority to order Texas girls to be vaccinated. In contrast Governor Perry received just $541 tied to this firm. Yet this contribution took the form of an in-kind contribution from Toomey, who contributed “research” to the Governor’s campaign in late October 2006—one month after Merck PAC’s big push into Texas.■

Major Donor Affiliated With
The Texas Lobby Group

Contributor	Contributions In 2006 Cycle
Texas Lobby Group LLP	$62,218
Michael Toomey	$61,406
Lara Laneri Keel	$12,344
TOTAL:	$135,968

 

Texas Lobby Group Donations (2005 and 2006)

Amount	Recipient	Party	Office
$16,000	Susan Combs	R	Comptroller
$12,500	Greg Abbott	R	Attorney General
$7,300	TX Opportunity PAC	R
$7,094	David Dewhurst	R	Lt. Governor
$5,000	TX Republican Leg. Caucus	R
$5,000	•John Zerwas	R	H-28
$4,000	†Dianne Delisi	R	H-55
$4,000	Craig Estes	R	S-30
$4,000	David Swinford	R	H-87
$3,500	Norma Chavez	D	H-76
$3,015	Dan Patrick	R	S-7
$3,000	*Kevin Christian	R	H-71
$2,500	*Terry Keel	R	Criminal Appeals
$2,500	•Tommy Williams	R	S-4
$2,250	*Ben Bentzin	R	H-48
$2,000	Brandon Creighton	R	H-16
$2,000	Kirk England	R	H-106
$2,000	Glenn Hegar	R	S-18
$2,000	†Kyle Janek	R	S-17
$2,000	Edmund Kuempel	R	H-44
$2,000	•Nathaniel 'Tan' Parker	R	H-63
$2,000	Joe Straus	R	H-121
$2,000	*Bill Welch	R	H-47
$1,500	†Bob Deuell	R	S-2
$1,500	Craig Eiland	D	H-23
$1,500	Patrick Rose	D	H-45
$1,200	Joe Driver	R	H-113

Link to table listing all Texas Lobby Group contributions

 

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¹ Merck PAC reported to the Federal Elections Commission that it moved the $74,250 to the states on September 28, 2006. Yet some Texas candidates did not report receiving these funds until as late as December 2006.
² Joe Nixon returned $1,000; Michael Savoie returned $250; and Carter Casteel, Kent Grusendorf and Elvira Reyna each returned $500.
³ A donor to Merck’s federal PAC, Jacques’ only recent direct contribution in Texas was $200 to Supreme Court Justice Don Willett last year.
⁴ Bill Messer and Ellen Williams.
⁵ The cousin of this lobbyist’s spouse, former Rep. Terrry Keel, made a failed 2006 bid for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which is the state court of last resort for the criminal charges pending against TRMPAC and TAB.