W. Preston Baldwin

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This article is part of the Tobacco portal on Sourcewatch funded from 2006 - 2009 by the American Legacy Foundation.

W. Preston Baldwin is the President and CEO of CenterPoint 360, a lobbying firm that, according to its website, "serves as a complementary angle to the traditional government relations operations. We serve at the intersection of business and government in order to enhance a client’s ability to shape the debate as well as manage the legislative and regulatory processes." It describes its expertise as "managing legislation and regulation."[1]

Ties to American Legislative Exchange Council

W. Preston Baldwin is the 2011 National Chair of the Corporate ("Private Enterprise") Board for the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC).[2]

About ALEC
ALEC is a corporate bill mill. It is not just a lobby or a front group; it is much more powerful than that. Through ALEC, corporations hand state legislators their wishlists to benefit their bottom line. Corporations fund almost all of ALEC's operations. They pay for a seat on ALEC task forces where corporate lobbyists and special interest reps vote with elected officials to approve “model” bills. Learn more at the Center for Media and Democracy's ALECexposed.org, and check out breaking news on our ExposedbyCMD.org site.

Background

Baldwin is the former Vice President of Public Affairs of United States Tobacco (UST) (now United States Smokeless Tobacco Company (USST)).[3] Altria (formerly Phillip Morris) purchased UST in 2009. [4] CenterPoint360 started soon after Altria purchased U.S. Tobacco, after which Baldwin became the National Chair for the American Legislative Exchange Council.

Articles and resources

Related SourceWatch articles

References

  1. Centerpoint360 About Us, Centerpoint 360 website, accessed July 8, 2011.
  2. Private Enterprise Board, ALEC website, accessed July 7, 2011.
  3. Patrick Donoho, UST Field Operations and RJR Field coordinators, UST press release memorandum available in Tobacco Library, November 19, 1996, Page Two.
  4. AP, Tobacco maker UST moves to Altria’s Virginia HQ, Washington Times, Apr. 1 2009, accessed July 8, 2011.

External resources

External articles

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