NC-SEN: Tillis took pharmaceutical money within weeks of co-sponsoring new drug price bill
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Senator Thom Tillis accepting more than $20,000 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to pharmaceutical companies within two weeks of sponsoring a bill related to drug prices in late 2019.
Tillis was an original co-sponsor on the Lower Costs, More Cures act, which was introduced on December 19, 2019.
It was similar to a competing bill that had been introduced earlier in the year by Republican Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, except that it omitted a key provision opposed by the pharmaceutical industry that would cap drug prices at inflation.
Grassley’s bill had bipartisan support but had stalled in the Senate before Tillis and a group of other Republican senators introduced their proposal on December 19.
Campaign finance records shows Tills received $20,500 in campaign contributions from political action committees tied to pharmaceutical companies in the days before and after the bill was filed; including two contributions totaling $7,000 on December 16 and 18, respectively, and seven contributions totaling $13,500 given on December 20, 26 and 31.
https://www.wbtv.com/2020/09/16/tillis-took-pharmaceutical-money-within-weeks-co-sponsoring-new-drug-price-bill/
