Lobbyists Are Going the Extra Mile
By Amy Keller - 3/1/2009
Lobbyist Ron Book (right) meets with state Sen. Mike Fasano at the state Capitol. Businesses that cut lobbying expenses in tough times, Book says, could wind up paying a high price.
Looking for ways to plug an $82-million budget hole, Broward County commissioners decided last year to cut library and park hours. They also sacked two of the seven lobbying firms they had employed — a move that will save $66,000.
Palm Beach County commissioners have also scaled back their legislative affair’s budget for 2009, cutting their federal lobbyist’s pay by 22% and applying a 12.5% across-the-board reduction to their state lobbying contracts.
Florida lobbyists say local governments aren’t the only ones taking a hard look at their lobbying budgets. As they look for ways to cut costs, some recession-plagued companies, non-profits and trade associations are also cutting back on lobbying expenses.
“A lot of them are cutting back — either reducing the fee or saying, ‘I can’t afford a lobbyist this year,’ ” says Ken Plante, a longtime Tallahassee lobbyist who represents various interests, including the Florida Home Builders Association, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Florida Association of Community Colleges and such notable companies as 7-Eleven, Swisher International and Tampa Bay Downs.
Plante says he hasn’t lost any work this year, but he knows others who have. “You have a lot of groups that had hired multiple lobbyists that are now reducing the size of those teams or doing away with them completely.”
Carl Adams, president of the Florida Association of Professional Lobbyists, says the situation is serious enough that some of the 450 registered lobbyists who belong to his organization have been unable to pay their $150 annual membership dues. “I am seeing people who shouldn’t be late paying and are late paying,” says Adams. In an upcoming issue of his newsletter, “Lobby Letters,” Adams encourages lobbyists who are doing well to steer any extra work to those who’ve lost clients.
The sagging economy — and contracting state coffers — is also impacting the hired guns’ strategies. The game in 2009 will be about preserving an appropriation rather than getting a new one.
“It’s a year where you’ve either got to be incredibly innovative if you’re going to start a program with no money, or you’re holding on to what you’ve got,” says Gene Adams, a Tallahassee lobbyist who represents close to two dozen organizations, including several insurance companies, the Florida Chamber of Commerce and the Florida Outdoor Advertising Association.
Plante says that while two of his clients — the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and Florida Association of Community Colleges — are focused on the state budget, the rest are worried about regulatory issues. Legislators, he says, are “staring at a another $6-billion hole to fill. They’re talking about looking at all the (sales tax) exemptions. You know they won’t look at food or medicine, so where are they going to be looking? That will be something that obviously a lot of my clients will be worried about.”
Lisa Aaron, who represents KPMG and several technology companies that do business with state government, says companies have to go the extra mile this year to prove their value. “You ask your clients to bring you ideas that you could get in front of decision-makers that might save the state some money,” says Aaron.
She plans to use that pitch for Tandberg, a Norwegian company that designs, develops and manufactures videoconferencing systems. “That’s a great idea now for government. It goes right along with the governor’s green initiative, as well as saving money with the government’s travel costs,” says Aaron.
Despite the economic pinch, many groups say they simply can’t afford not to have advocates in the capital. John Sebree, vice president of public policy for the Florida Association of Realtors, says his group is budgeting for a 20% decrease in dues revenue and says the group “may have to cut back a little” in some areas — but lobbying will not be one of them.
Front-burner issues for the group include homeownership assistance programs and working closely with state agencies to ensure that funds contained in last year’s Housing and Economic Stimulus Act are put toward foreclosure recovery efforts, including the rehabilitation of foreclosed properties. “It will be real estate that brings this economy out of the downturn. We’ll probably lobby as hard or harder,” says Sebree.
Lobbyist Ron Book says businesses that shed their lobbyists in tough times do so at their own peril. Case in point: In previous years, Book, whose client roster includes the Miami Dolphins, Miami-Dade County Public Schools and Florida Power & Light, represented a “large segment” of the state’s driving/traffic schools, and for years the industry has benefited from the 18% discount on speeding tickets that the state gives motorists who attend traffic school.
But when lawmakers met in special session in January to plug a $2.3-billion budget hole, they decided to eliminate the 18% discount on tickets. Now, without that incentive, the schools might see a considerable drop in business. The lesson for others is clear, says Book. “It is dangerous to go representation-less.”
Business of Change
Federal Uptick
While the ongoing recession is taking somewhat of a toll on Tallahassee’s influence-peddlers, Florida firms that engage in federal lobbying say they’ve been deluged by requests for representation on Capitol Hill. In fact, Mike Abrams, director of Akerman Senterfitt’s Miami policy group, says that the firm’s federal lobbying business has been so brisk that he’s had to turn away potential clients. Abrams says he believes the interest will continue post-stimulus because of the change in Washington. “As government is now taking on ubiquitous reform, there’s a fundamental change in the way many view the very role of the government. Now everyone is looking to the government to help stabilize the economy.”
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