Public Affairs Case Study: Worth The Change

Situation

South Carolina has the lowest cigarette tax in the nation. At just 7 cents per pack, the state is dramatically below the national average, which was $1.02 in January 2007 and has now climbed to $1.18 per pack. Since 2002, 44 other states and the District of Columbia have raised their cigarette tax rates more than 75 times. Since 2000, the S.C. Tobacco Collaborative (SCTC), a statewide nonprofit organization committed to reducing the toll of tobacco use in South Carolina, has led the effort to promote a significant increase in the state's cigarette tax. We focused the media relations component of the campaign on securing positive editorials that would influence legislators and constituents in their districts; working to reverse the opinion of the handful of editorial boards that had not supported the issue; and encouraging reporters to consider SCTC a source when covering the issue.

Research

In addition to our own poll that showed that 71% of registered S.C. voters support a significant cigarette tax increase with revenues going to healthcare and youth smoking prevention and more than 100 independent studies showing that raising the price of cigarette taxes is the most effective means of keeping kids from smoking, we relied on research from the national Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids (TFK). TFK provided the time and expertise of their research staff to develop state-specific fact sheets that helped us educate legislators and the news media. We began with a full-day strategic planning meeting to evaluate our efforts from the previous year's campaign. We identified the news outlets that had supported our position, that supported the issue but advocated for a different increase amount or allocation of revenue, and that had not supported the issue, in turn matching each paper with their local legislators. We met with our lobbyists to develop messages that would resonate in the home districts of our key legislative targets. We determined that the primary audience for the media relations campaign was the editorial boards of the state's daily newspapers, with a secondary audience of registered voters in target legislative districts.

Planning and Execution

In the fall prior to the 2007 legislative session, we held a series of grassroots meetings around the state to test messages and distribute advocacy handbooks containing tips and materials for contacting legislators and the media, including sample letters to the editor. TFK provided us extensive research on cigarette taxes and proven message strategies, which we used to develop a comprehensive briefing book to share with the media. We evaluated opposition messages and developed one-page briefing documents to address common concerns, weaving those messages into our media interviews.

We launched the campaign on February 21 with a news conference that included legislators, partner organizations and a group of school children who helped underscore the message that our goal is to keep kids from smoking. We wrote and placed op-eds by the Executive Director of SCTC, prominent physicians and the President of the United Way Association of South Carolina. As the bill progressed through the legislative process, we issued news releases and electronic advocacy alerts, and we asked supportive editorial boards to publish editorials at opportune times, resulting in extensive print and broadcast coverage and a flood of phone calls from constituents to their legislators. We worked with the less supportive editorial boards to address their concerns. We produced radio and print ads to coordinate with grassroots alerts. TFK developed a website designed to capture the names of supporters so we could mobilize them at key stages in the process. On April 11, we held a second news conference to release a special report on the benefits of a cigarette tax increase, which generated a lot of attention in advance of a committee vote and the full House debate. After the bill passed the House and moved to the Senate in the last weeks of the session, we held a small rally in the State House lobby to encourage the Senate to debate the issue before adjourning for the summer. When July 1 arrived, marking the 30th anniversary since South Carolina.'s last cigarette tax increase, we worked with newspapers to publish articles and editorials - many of which scolded legislators for not implementing legislation before that date.

Results

We accomplished our goal of getting a bill passed by the House of Representatives - historic action that marked the first time in 30 years that a cigarette tax bill had been passed by one of South Carolina's legislative bodies. Our efforts also encouraged the Senate to pass a "special order" motion to move the bill to the top of their agenda before they adjourned so that it would be one of the first issues considered in 2008. Overwhelming media and public support resulted in more than 40 favorable editorials, including from one newspaper that has consistently written against the issue, and more than 50 news articles during the 20-week session from January and June. The success in 2007 laid the groundwork for continued success during the 2008 legislative session.