Beer Institute spent $160K lobbying gov't in 4Q

WASHINGTON – The Beer Institute spent $160,000 in the fourth quarter to lobby on labeling, taxes and other issues, according to a recent disclosure report.

That's even with what the group spent in the third quarter of 2009, and slightly less than the $170,000 it spent in the year-ago period.

The trade group — whose members include Anheuser-Busch InBev, Heineken USA Inc. and MillerCoors — also lobbied on regulatory matters affecting brewers, including funding for programs to combat underage drinking and enforce laws against it, food safety and other issues.

Besides Congress, the Beer Institute lobbied the Federal Trade Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Department of Health and Human Services and other agencies in the Sept.-Dec. period, according to the report filed Jan. 20 with the House clerk's office.