Lobbyists Go Where The Money Is

By Brandon Larrabee
Morris News Service

(11/26/07) When asked what's needed for a legislative proposal to capture the interest of lobbyists, former Rep. Tom Bordeaux starts with a one-word answer. "Money."

Then Bordeaux, a Savannah Democrat who retired before this year's session after 16 years in the House, elaborates.

"Anything to do with money, making it or losing it," he adds.

While there's a lobbyist with an interest in practically every one of the hundreds of measures filed during each legislative session, proposals that help or hinder the economic fortunes of those who hire the lobbyists get the most attention from the paid advocates that roam the capitol's halls each day in the spring, observers say.

Sometimes, that issue can be the one grabbing all the headlines, such as the bruising 2005 battle over restrictions on medical malpractice lawsuits. The measure, which supporters dubbed "tort reform," pitted lobbyists for the state's influential medical community against those working for lawyers and consumer advocates.

The measure passed, but only after both sides had poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into gifts and meals for lawmakers.

Other times, lobbyists seize on issues that would likely confound most citizens because of their complexity or narrow application. Take, for example, the authority of some nurses to write prescriptions for patients. That measure also passed recently, but only after years of lobbying.

"It is seldom the headline issue that has the most lobbyists," Bordeaux said.

This year, though, one of the headline proposals is expected to draw public interest, ink and lobbyists: A plan by House Speaker Glenn Richardson, R-Hiram, to scrap property taxes in favor of a broadened sales tax.

Those who are doing well enough to afford lobbyists often want to make sure that things don't change too much, said Charles Bullock, a political science professor at the University of Georgia.

"They're fairly happy with the status quo. ... The system has worked well for them," he said.

Of course, there are exceptions, such as the tort reform measure. While the lobbyists working for lawyers were interested in protecting the way things were, those working for the doctors wanted to limit the size of malpractice judgments and find other ways to restrict lawsuits they said were frivolous.

Bordeaux, himself an attorney, said health care and insurance proposals are sure to draw more than their fair share of interest from lobbyists.

"I think the medical industry has more lobbyists per square foot up there than anybody else, probably everybody else put together," he said.

Measures that would affect the banking business also attract lobbyists, Bordeaux said.

But it's not always deep-pocketed industries sending their advocates to square off against one another on a would-be law or regulation, Bullock said.

Sometimes, money is spent to get money, often through the state budget. And that explains why many government agencies have someone on the payroll whose job description includes acting as a lobbyist during the session.

"That's to protect their share of the budget," Bullock said.

In that vein, many expect one of the most heavily lobbied issues of the year to be Richardson's proposed tax overhaul.

The speaker has spent months pitching what he calls "The GREAT Plan for Georgia," a proposal that would get rid of the property tax, with a few exceptions. In return, the sales tax would be broadened and applied to the cost of services like attorney's fees and lawn care. Dozens of exemptions to the sales tax currently in state law would also be stripped out.

"The Speaker's proposed tax change will generate an awful lot of money for lobbyists," Bullock said.

Much of the interest will come from businesses currently exempt from the sales tax but would have to under the plan.

"You think the Georgia bar is going to be real happy with that? Probably not," Bullock said.

Bordeaux, who might have to start collecting the sales tax for his legal services under the plan, agreed.

"That's a life-or-death struggle for a lot of businesses, or at least they see it that way," he said.

Again, businesses won't be the only ones involved in the process. The idea is bound to draw the attention of local governments, who make most of their money off the property tax and would have to depend on payments from the state under Richardson's plan.

Herb Garrett, who lobbies for local schools as executive director of the Georgia School Superintendents Association, said he expects tax reform to be one of two major issues he'll focus on this year, with the other being charter-school legislation.

"The tax reform issue will be lobbied simply because of the impact it could have on the ability of local boards to fund the service of public education," Garrett said.

Now out of the General Assembly, Bordeaux said the level of interaction between lobbyists and lawmakers might distort some of the Legislature's priorities. Many newly-minted legislators head to the capitol for the first time with noble ideas, he said. But that can change.

"Once you get under the Gold Dome as a legislator, you start paying attention to what the lobbyists tell you is important or what the lobbyists want to talk to about at dinner tonight," he said.

What issues those are will become clear relatively soon. The legislative session begins Jan. 14.

Here is a look at how many lobbyists were registered with the State Ethics Commission over the last two years and how much they spent lobbying members of the General Assembly.