Lobbyists prosper in down economy
Groups report record $38.5m in fees
Industry representatives, unions, and an array of other special-interest groups trying to influence legislation and policy on Beacon Hill spent a record $38.5 million on lobbying in the first six months of the year, according to disclosure reports.
Despite a weaker economy, lobbyists pushing issues from gambling to healthcare reported taking in about 13 percent more during the first half of 2008 than they did in the same period in 2007, when they collected $34 million in fees. Also in the first six months, advocates and clients spent an additional $6.3 million on other expenses related to lobbying, like advertising, public relations, meals, and transportation.
"It may not be a good year for the economy, but the lobbyists are having a wonderful year," Secretary of State William F. Galvin said in a phone interview yesterday, as his office was compiling the numbers and chasing down the few dozen stragglers who missed Tuesday night's filing deadline. "Lobbying in Massachusetts is very lucrative."
Lobbyists representing clients trying to pass new policies or prevent them from passing saw mixed success.
While Governor Deval Patrick's plan to license three casinos in Massachusetts was meeting defeat in the House, lobbyists on gambling issues garnered nearly $870,000 on top of about $1.3 million for all of 2007. Their income in just six months surpassed their 12-month total for 2006 and virtually equaled the tally for 2005.
That money was spent mostly by gambling interests like Suffolk Downs, which paid more than $254,000 in lobbying fees and another $103,000 in expenses to eight lobbyists in the first half of the year, while arguing for a casino in East Boston. The Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, which wants to build a resort casino in Middleborough, spent $86,000 on lobbying in the first half of 2008.
Meanwhile, the Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling spent just $5,000 on lobbying.
No company, organization, or interest spent more on lobbying in the first half of the year than Commerce Insurance Co., which paid $475,000 in lobbyist salaries as it adjusted to new competition and changing regulations in automobile insurance. That's more than it spent in all of 2006, when it topped the state list at $464,000.
Commerce spent 63 percent more than the next top client, the Massachusetts Teachers Association, which paid $290,519. Suffolk Downs followed at third.
Pamela H. Wilmot, executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Massachusetts, said businesses and organizations are clearly willing to spend heavily to influence decisions that will affect their interests, whether through gathering evidence, taking their campaigns to the news media, or hiring well-connected insiders.
"When business interests are affected, they spend a tremendous amount of money to protect those interests," Wilmot said.
Lobbyists and officials contacted yesterday refused to talk about lobbying, however. Patrick, House Speaker Salvatore DiMasi, and Senate President Therese Murray each declined to comment through their offices.
Health-related organizations also dotted the top 10 spenders, as healthcare issues continued to play a prominent role on Beacon Hill. The Massachusetts Hospital Association ranked sixth, spending $204,443. The Massachusetts Nurses Association checked in at ninth, paying $158,291 in lobbyist fees. The nurses, who are at odds with the state's hospitals over staffing levels, spent $1.15 million on advertising and other nonsalary lobbying expenses, representing almost one-fifth of that category.
The Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative, a physician-driven initiative launched in 2004 to establish statewide electronic health records to improve the quality of care, spent $150,000 on lobbying fees, making it 10th.
The best-paid lobbying firm, at $906,787, was Bay State Strategies Group, headed by David K. Shapiro, a former Massachusetts Port Authority executive and legislative policy adviser. Shapiro's firm edged O'Neill and Associates, led by Thomas P. O'Neil III, the former lieutenant governor, which collected $888,200. Bay State Strategies Group collected its fees from an array of clients, including Citizens for Fire Safety Institute ($45,000), Harvard Pilgrim Health Care ($40,000), and
Galvin said voters and taxpayers should pay attention to lobbying fees, as well as to campaign contributions by lobbyists.
"This may seem all kind of distant from people, but it's not," Galvin said, encouraging people to visit his office's website, where lobbyist records are searchable. "The public has to do its part by paying attention."
