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| (Albany, New York) |
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| Opinion Pieces |
| Monday, February 13, 2006 |
| SHINE LIGHT ON LOBBYING'S DARK SIDE |
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By Chad A. Marlow
The Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal has led the media to shine an unflattering light on many commonplace lobbying practices that, although legal, are rightly viewed by the public as ethically suspect.
As this attention has reinforced the public's generally unfavorable view of lobbyists, one might assume that lobbyists are anxiously awaiting another news story that will knock this scandal off the front page. But to the contrary, many lobbyists like myself see a silver lining in this coverage. It may produce a legislative climate that finally enables us to clean up our profession.
The practice of lobbying, which derives its name from the custom of cornering legislators in hotel lobbies, plays an important role in the functioning of government. As former New York City Councilman Stephen Fiala once explained, elected officials' broad job responsibilities require them to be experts at being generalists. They need to rely upon lobbyists for issue-specific information and policy recommendations. Rutgers professor Alan Rosenthal seconded this analysis, noting that "legislators rely on lobbyists for most of the information they receive on many of the issues with which they deal."
Many lobbyists, myself included, rely heavily on our role as information providers. The best and the brightest (as well as most ethical) lobbyists believe that by presenting elected officials with the highest quality research, most thorough analysis and strongest arguments possible, they can successfully influence their political positions. When equally diligent lobbyists undertake such efforts on both sides of an issue, we collectively ensure that our elected officials will possess a superior base of knowledge from which to make well-informed policy decisions.
Unfortunately, there is another group of lobbyists into which people like Jack Abramoff fall. These lobbyists do not seek to influence government by proposing and intelligently supporting beneficial public policies. Their influence, which is decidedly not on the merits, has virtually nothing to do with proficient advocacy and everything to do with influence peddling, gift giving and indirect bribery. These lobbyists represent the dark side of my profession.
Several potential reform measures exist that would curtail these lobbyists' unethical practices if adopted by the state Legislature. The first such reform, sponsored by Sen. Liz Kruger, D-Manhattan, and Assemblyman Tom Kirwan, R-Newburgh, would require a two-year waiting period before any former legislative employee could lobby his or her former employer. Presently, such employees are only prohibited from lobbying during the same two-year legislative session. As a result, legislative staffers can leave their jobs on the last day of a legislative session and begin selling access to their former bosses the following day.
As Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group has observed, "If you do it right, the cooling off period is measured in minutes." Albany's second-highest revenue earning lobbyist, Patricia Lynch, used this loophole. She left her job with Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's office at the end of 2000, opened a lobbying firm in early 2001 and within a year was on to Albany's top 10 lobbyist list. Last year alone, Ms. Lynch's firm earned $3.4 million in fees.
To combat such future abuses, Kruger and Kirwan's bill will need massive public support. Too many Albany elected officials and staff members realize if they can get close enough to the center of power in Albany, they might someday be a millionaire. The second reform needed to clean up my profession, which is being championed by David Grandeau, executive director of the state lobbying commission, is aimed at reducing the cumulative effect that numerous gifts from lobbyists can have on a legislator's independence. Presently, state ethics laws prohibit an elected official from receiving any gift worth $75 or more from a lobbyist. Unfortunately, the Legislature has adopted a $75 per occasion interpretation of this rule. A lobbyist in a single night could buy a legislator $70 worth of cocktails, take him out to a $70 dinner and top off the evening with a $70 ticket to a Yankees game without running afoul of the rule.
To remedy this shortcoming, Grandeau announced he would interpret the rule as limiting gifts from lobbyists to $75 per year. This bold interpretation would prevent lobbyists from purchasing a level of access and influence they could not otherwise achieve on the merits of their clients' interests. Although Albany's leaders may seek to overturn Grandeau's interpretation, some Assembly members are working to formally adopt his $75 per year interpretation. The sponsors of this bill are asking their colleagues to bite the hand that feeds (and entertains) them. Consequently, to eliminate this practice of incremental bribery, voters must contact their elected officials to express their support for Grandeau's interpretation of the gift rule and any legislative attempts to codify his interpretation.
Finally, we must address one practice that is so egregious, I refuse to acknowledge those who practice it as true members of my profession. This practice, which occurs at all levels of government, involves seeking to influence an elected official by hiring one of his relatives. While state ethics laws prohibit an entity that is seeking to influence an elected official from directly bribing the official, it can send an indirect bribe of several thousand dollars to one of his close relatives.
Just last year. Ken Bruno, son of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, was paid $90,000 to "lobby" his own father in Albany. While I believe referring to these relatives as "lobbyists" is an insult to all those who ethically practice my profession, state law considers these opportunists to be law-abiding lobbyists. If we are to see this shameful practice eliminated, lobbyists must join with the public in expressing outrage toward both these pseudo-lobbyists and the elected officials who empower their abuse of the political system.
To clean up lobbying in New York, an aggressive approach must be taken toward enacting these three legislative reforms. For my part, I will work hard to research and craft arguments that will hopefully persuade our legislators to adopt these reforms. With enough effort, I believe we can succeed in getting these good government bills passed into law, unless too many elected officials' former staffers, relatives and meal tickets get in the way.
Chad A. Marlow is the President of The Public Advocacy Group LLC in New York City.
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