A vote that could send a controversial hog-farm-protection bill to the state Senate is scheduled for this afternoon at five o’clock. The INDY has previously reported that state Representative Jimmy Dixon—who has received $115,000 in campaign contributions from the pork industry—is the chief sponsor of HB 467, which would protect hog farmers from myriad legal claims, including twenty-six active lawsuits filed against Murphy-Brown LLC, the hog division of Smithfield Foods.
Nearly every representative (most were Republicans) who voted in favor of the measure Thursday has been a beneficiary of Big Pork’s generosity, including bill cosponsors John Bell and David Lewis. Bell, the House majority leader, has received $5,000 from the N.C. Pork Council, $1,000 from Smithfield Foods, $5,000 from Dixon, and $1,850 from people with ties to Goldsboro Milling, the tenth-largest hog producer in the nation. And Lewis got $15,500 from the Pork Council, $4,750 from Murphy-Brown stakeholders, $9,500 from Prestage Farms, and $7,000 from Smithfield, according to campaign finance records.
Here are the cumulative Big Pork contributions (courtesy of followthemoney.org) for everyone else who voted yes:
• John Bell (R-Craven, Greene, Lenoir, Wayne)—$12,850
• William Brisson (D-Bladen, Johnston, Sampson)—$11,750
• Justin Burr (R- Montgomery, Stanly)—$1,000
• Jimmy Dixon (R-Duplin, Wayne)—$115,000
• Josh Dobson (R-Avery, McDowell, Mitchell)—$750
• Nelson Dollar (R-Wake)—$5,050
• John Fraley (R-Iredell)—$500
• Kenneth Goodman (D-Hoke, Montgomery, Richmond, Robeson, Scotland)—$2,000
• Kyle Hall (R-Rockingham, Stokes)—$500
• Jon Hardister (R-Guilford)—$500
• D. Craig Horn (R-Union)—$500
• Julia Howard (R-Davie, Forsyth)—$7,150
•Howard Hunter (D-Bertie, Gates,Hertford, Pasquotank)—$500
• Patricia Hurley (R-Randolph)—$1,250
• Francis Iler Jr. (R-Brunswick—$13,750
• Linda Johnson (R-Cabarrus)—$3,500
• Jonathan Jordan (R-Ashe, Watauga)—$4,500
• Donny Lambeth (R-Forsyth)—$500
• David Lewis (R-Harnett)—$36,500
• Marvin Lucas (D-Cumberland)—$2,700
• Susan Martin (R-Pitt, Wilson)—$1,000
• Pat McElraft (R-Carteret, Jones)—$1,500
• Allen Ray McNeil (R-Moore, Randolph)—$500
• Rodney Moore (D-Mecklenburg)—$500
• Tim Moore (R-Cleveland)—$44,650
• Larry Pittman (R-Cabarrus)—$500
• Michele Presnell (R-Haywood, Madison, Yancey)—$2,500
• Dennis Patrick Riddell (R-Alamance)—$500
• Jason Saine (R-Lincoln)—$2,000
• Mitchell Setzer (R-Catawba)—$600 • Bob Steinburg (R-Camden, Chowan, Curritck, Pasquotank, Perquimas, Tyrrell)—$4,250
• Sarah Stevens (R-Surry, Wilkes)—$750
• Larry Craig Strickland (R-Johnston)—$750
• John David Szoka (R-Cumberland)—$10,000
• John Torbett (R- Gaston)—$250
• Rena Turner (R-Iredell)—$1,000
• Donna White (R-Johnston)—$500
• Michael Wray (D-Halifax, Northampton)—$4,800
• Walter Lee Zachary Jr. (R-Alexander, Wilkes, Yadkin)—$500
That’s nearly $300,000 in contributions from Big Pork.
The INDY’s Erica Hellerstein will be at the hearing this afternoon, and we’ll let you know how it goes.