Lobbyists' influence knows few bounds

[Guest guest]

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007702260345

My comment in local paper regarding article above:

It just isn't right. I know I have been trying to talk with many

government officials for nine years, but I am trying to save lives.

I am trying to help the people that are sick from dangerous indoor

mold. All we want is help from doctors, rules for remediation, help

with relocating when we have to move because of dangerous living

conditions. Many with this illness get a chemical type asthma where

everyday cosmetics are causing severe lung problems. The United

States sell products that other countries would not allow on the

market. Our government knows about these issues, but it would cost

money or votes.

Why can't the companies that are making our cosmetics have a fund for

the people that are suffering from their dangerous products, and many

are dangerous. I am tired of suffering because greed and corruption.

I am sure if I invite a Senator or Congressman for lunch they are not

available to see just some regular person. I am lucky if I receive

some kind of response after writing or calling to inform an official

about hearings on Capitol Hill. I am too ill to hang around

Washington lurking in the hallways to get the attention of a senator

or congressman.

This is not how a truly decent government should handle their

business, but it is the American way apparently, and we can't seem to

do anything about it.

ARTICLE:

MONEY TALKS IN DOVER

Lobbyists' influence knows few bounds

Free meals, tickets and campaign cash all advance private interests

By CRIS BARRISH, The News Journal

Posted Monday, February 26, 2007

The House of Representatives in Legislative Hall. (Buy photo)

The News Journal/SCOTT NATHAN

Delaware lobbyist L. Byrd (right) confers with (from left)

then-Correction Commissioner Stanley W. Jr. and lobbyists A.

Heffron and McGlinchey in Legislative Hall in June.

(Buy photo)

The News Journal/CRIS BARRISH

Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn has learned firsthand the power of

lobbyists.

Rep. J. Valihura Jr. got $2,150 in contributions from Blue

Cross lobbyists in 2006.

Mark DiMaio, chief Delaware lobbyist for AstraZeneca, frequently

hosts lawmakers.

During the last two years, the Delaware General Assembly considered

bills to force the state's No. 1 health insurer to get approval for

price increases, pay some doctors' malpractice premiums and take part

in a state-run program offering discounted policies.

Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware unleashed its lobbyists to defeat

the measures.

The insurer called on its team of 10 registered lobbyists -- more

than any Delaware company can deploy -- to testify at committee

meetings and buttonhole lawmakers. They bought legislators and other

public officials nearly $1,000 worth of meals. Blue Cross lobbyists

and executives also gave more than $7,100 to the election campaigns

of seven key House members.

Two of the bills never made it out of the House committee that

handles insurance matters; the third never came up for a full House

vote. And no House member ever had to cast a vote against the bills.

Blue Cross' thus-far successful offensive against the initiatives,

which are expected to be resurrected this spring, illustrates one way

lobbyists work the legislative process: heavy presence at Legislative

Hall leavened with food and campaign dollars.

Other leading Delaware companies, such as Verizon, AstraZeneca,

Delmarva Power, Dover Downs, Dover Motorsports and the Delaware City

oil refinery, put a heavier emphasis on giving legislators meals and

gifts, along with campaign donations. So have groups such as the

Delaware Association of Realtors and the New Castle County Chamber of

Commerce.

While Blue Cross lobbyists spent just $3,100 on public officials, the

others each spent from $12,000 to $59,000 on golf outings, NASCAR

races, charity balls, cocktail parties and other events since 2002,

records show.

In all, 197 companies and organizations spent $718,400 since 2002 to

influence public officials, according to the state's lobbying

database, which has records of all spending since 2002. The News

Journal obtained the database after winning a Freedom of Information

Act dispute with the Delaware Public Integrity Commission.

Lea Rush, director of state projects for the nonpartisan Center for

Public Integrity in Washington, said that whether by virtue of

flooding Legislative Hall with lobbyists, treating lawmakers to meals

and free tickets, or giving campaign money, companies in Delaware are

outflanking the public in the battle for " quality time " with public

officials.

" They are not necessarily out for the public's good, " said Rush,

whose group studies lobbying. " They are there for the good of the

company. "

In business-friendly Delaware -- where the state enticed

pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca to move its headquarters to Fairfax

with a estimated $400 million in cash and other incentives, and more

than half of Fortune 500 companies operate under the state's

attractive incorporation laws -- big business usually has no problem

getting the ear of government officials.

And during the four months the Legislature meets in Dover, including

the recent winter session that ended Jan. 25, dozens of lobbyists

mill around the aisles and offices of Legislative Hall.

They roam the corridors and linger near the entrances to the Senate

and House chambers, grabbing legislators as they pass. They corner

lawmakers anywhere an impromptu meeting can be held: cubbyholes, the

lunchroom, legislative offices, even in the chambers themselves while

meetings are taking place. On the second-floor balcony, lobbyists

have staked out their own favorite perches on leather-upholstered

couches or chairs with a view of the chambers below.

They also meet with lawmakers and other officials outside the

building, paying for their lunches or dinners at the appropriately

named Lobby House and other restaurants. Or they hold cocktail

parties and other receptions after the House or Senate adjourns for

the day. They even go to out-of-state conferences, where they host

receptions.

All the money the lobbyists spend is another way to keep conversation

flowing between corporate interests and lawmakers.

Blue Cross crew, cash

The chief lobbyist for Blue Cross, E. Kirk III, is its top

attorney. Among the other lobbyists are two of Delaware's most

influential -- L. Byrd and W. Wood Jr. -- and five

private attorneys.

In 2005, the insurer, which had $378 million in revenues and earned

$14.6 million, also hired former Rep. T. Ennis, outgoing

chairman of the House Economic Development, Banking and Insurance

Committee. Ennis had just lost the election for insurance

commissioner.

Kirk, Ennis and lobbyist Swayze met with unidentified lawmakers

and other officials behind the scenes, spending $932 on meals,

database records showed. The lawmakers treated to meals could not be

identified, nor could other details, because state law doesn't

require lobbyists to identify the recipient of any individual gift

worth $50 or less.

Blue Cross spokeswoman Darelle Riabov said most of the money went

toward a social dinner for Senate Republicans and aides that Blue

Cross split with a handful of other lobbyists. The insurer also

contributed with other lobbyists to the cost of meals for House

members and aides on June 30, the last night of the General Assembly,

when the state's budget is passed and a flurry of other bills are

passed -- or die.

Wood, Byrd and other lobbyists, who all have multiple clients, also

gave to insurance committee members' campaigns. Kirk donated $775

during the 2006 election year to four panel members and House

Majority Leader Wayne A. . Blue Cross CEO Constantine

donated to and panel chairwoman Donna D. Stone, records show.

The lobbying team failed to persuade the Senate to defeat three

health bills initiated by Insurance Commissioner Matt Denn. All

passed overwhelmingly.

They succeeded in the House, however, where procedural rules can make

it easier to kill legislation without a vote. Ennis and Kirk

testified before the House insurance panel.

One bill would have given Denn's office the power to reject rate

increases by health insurers.

The other would have created a fund to help doctors in high-risk

practices, such as obstetrics and gynecology, pay malpractice

premiums. The cash would come from $1.2 million of Blue Cross' $148

million in reserves. Denn targeted Blue Cross, he said, because as

Delaware's only nonprofit health service corporation, it gets state

tax breaks, which amounted to nearly $5 million in 2005.

The third bill would create an insurance-buying pool to save up to

36,000 individual and small-business employees as much as 30 percent

on premiums. Blue Cross would have been forced to participate because

it helps administer the state government's health plan, from which it

receives about $13 million a year.

During one meeting in June -- two weeks before the House adjourned --

Ennis told his former subordinates that the bill to regulate price

increases needed more work, according to meeting minutes. " Mr. Ennis

commented that he perceives this as a starting point and not

necessarily a bill that is ready to be acted on, " the minutes said.

Denn, according to the minutes, was clearly frustrated, telling

lawmakers he would " meet with anyone at any time, " but the bill had

been introduced one year earlier and " only now is there talk of

holding meetings or other suggestions for the bill. "

The regulation and malpractice-fund bills were tabled by the

committee.

The buying-pool bill passed the insurance committee, but never came

up for a vote in the full House.

Denn: 'Pretty daunting'

Insurance committee vice chairman Rep. J. Valihura Jr., who

received $2,150 in campaign money from Blue Cross lobbyists in 2006,

said many are fellow attorneys and longtime friends whose support was

unrelated to their lobbying. Valihura said he had concerns about both

tabled bills.

He pointed out that health insurance rates were exempted from

regulation in the early 1980s, and said Denn had not made a

compelling argument that oversight was needed. On the bill to help

some doctors pay malpractice insurance -- such as gynecologists in

Kent County, which Denn says is underserved -- Valihura pointed out

that the Medical Society of Delaware also opposed the bill and is

pushing toward comprehensive malpractice reform.

" Matt's way wasn't even acceptable to the medical profession itself, "

Valihura said. " Matt failed to prove his case. He needs to do more

work. "

Kirk said Blue Cross opposed the bills to make sure it could pay

expenses for its 385,000 policyholders. Blue Cross is seeking

changes, such as " objective standards " for rate increases, to ensure

fairness, Kirk said. In recent months, Blue Cross reduced its

lobbying force to five -- a force whose numbers are surpassed by just

two for-profit companies.

Rep. A. Oberle Jr., who sponsored the rate-regulation and

malpractice bills, said he thought their merits would attract enough

votes to pass, but Blue Cross' lobbying effort " was apparently pretty

effective. "

Oberle said the public should receive some of the Blue Cross

reserves, which company officials said is needed to pay future

claims. " It's unconscionable, " Oberle said. " Some of those moneys

should go back to serve the public. "

Denn, who does not take gifts or donations from the insurance

industry, said he was simply outgunned by Blue Cross.

" The raw number of lobbyists [in Dover] regarding any bill they

regard as adverse is pretty daunting, " he said.

While Denn decried Blue Cross' influence on lawmakers, he has not

been completely averse to lobbyist largess. Denn accepted tickets

worth $550 to four events since 2002: two New Castle County Chamber

of Commerce dinners while he was Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's legal counsel

and, after he took office in 2005, to a chamber dinner and the

Gridiron Dinner for journalism scholarships.

But the way Denn's bills faded away in the House -- without any vote

for or against them -- bothers the commissioner.

" We need to find a way for these bills to get voted on in the light

of day, " Denn said. " If the legislator wants to vote against them, so

be it. "

Treats from Verizon

Two of Delaware's biggest spenders, Verizon and AstraZeneca, said

they haven't fought or advocated for specific bills, but both are

generous to lawmakers and other officials through their chief

lobbyists.

Verizon spent the most on gifts -- $58,869.

AstraZeneca spent $18,838 -- eighth-most.

Verizon Delaware lobbyist Bonnie L. Metz, a telecommunications

attorney, joined the company in December 2001. Within six months, she

spent $7,000, sending lawmakers and, often, guests to events such as

Wilmington's Grand Opera House Gala, an Arthritis Foundation tribute

to Gov. Minner, a gourmet feast for Meals on Wheels, the Gridiron

Dinner for journalism scholarships and three golf tournaments.

Over the 4 1/2-year period, Metz's beneficiaries included 45 of the

Legislature's 62 lawmakers, including House Speaker Terry Spence, who

controls appointments to all committees, and since-retired Rep. Joe

Di Pinto, then co-chairman of the Joint Finance Committee. Known as

the JFC, the panel is perhaps the most powerful in the Legislature.

Members make changes to the governor's proposed budget, and their

approval is needed before taxpayer money can be spent on contracts or

projects.

Verizon Delaware and subsidiaries of its parent corporation provide

the state government with telephone, cell phone and other

telecommunications services -- deals that cost taxpayers $18.6

million last year.

Metz, who also oversees Verizon's charitable giving, and company

President R. would not discuss the gifts to public

officials. Spokeswoman Arnette issued a five-paragraph

statement that said Verizon supports " numerous charitable

organizations " and tries to create a favorable business climate

by " interacting with lawmakers. "

The purpose, Arnette wrote, is to " educate them about our industry,

Verizon's work in Delaware, and the impact of potential legislation

on our Delaware customers, our employees and our shareholders. "

Verizon has not lobbied for or against any " specific legislation, "

she wrote, adding that nearly half the money was for events

that " directly benefited charitable organizations. "

Public Integrity director Rush said buying tickets to charity events

is one of the most common ways lobbyists and lawmakers camouflage the

true nature of their dealings.

" It is a good cause but obscures the real relationship that is being

fostered, " Rush said. " And they are expensive, these charity things.

I can't afford a $150 ticket to a charity ball or gala with a silent

auction. It's another sort of leadership or political-elite type of

scenario. "

Ballgames and charities

Mark DiMaio, chief lobbyist for AstraZeneca in Delaware, has taken at

least three lawmakers to the Philadelphia Phillies home opener the

last three seasons, sitting in box seats or the company's suite. The

tickets and food cost $200 to $250 per person. Rep. Pamela Thornburg

went every year.

Over the period studied by the newspaper, DiMaio also spent about

$15,000 more taking officials out to meals, a charity ball, golfing

and a 76ers game.

DiMaio did not return several calls and AstraZeneca would not grant

an interview with Tony Zook, president of its Delaware-based U.S.

operations. Instead, spokeswoman Kellie Caldwell issued two written

statements.

AstraZeneca engages in an " ongoing dialogue with state government

officials to discuss health care policy, health care delivery and

regulatory issues impacting Delaware, " Caldwell said in one statement.

Besides seeking tax cuts for businesses and support for stem cell

research, officials also inform lawmakers about company plans, she

said.

The company, Delaware's fifth-largest, with about 4,800 employees,

gave $2 million last year to local charities, and sends politicians

to events to contribute to the cause while discussing issues, she

wrote.

At the Phillies games, Caldwell wrote, lawmakers such as Thornburg,

Spence and Sen. B. McBride were given updates on issues

including those related to drug development and " on our facilities

including future building/expansion plans. "

Thornburg, a Dover Republican, sits on the House transportation

panel. The state is in the midst of a $140 million project to upgrade

roads around AstraZeneca's Fairfax headquarters north of Wilmington.

Thornburg said she went to the baseball games because she is a fan,

and DiMaio has never sought her support or vote on any issue.

" By accepting an invitation, it is absolutely no advantage at all "

for the company, she said. " I'm not looking for a pocket to hide in

or to do anything devious or to get any big perks. "

Winning on land use

The development community successfully lobbied against Gov. Minner's

primary legislative initiative last year, spending at least $38,000

to advance its agenda. The Delaware Association of Realtors alone

spent $23,350, almost all at its annual legislative reception.

The key bill they fought was Minner's bid to restrain sprawl in

outlying areas by banning any building lot smaller than 5 acres.

Minner said the measure addressed voters' No. 1 concern --

overdevelopment -- and was essential to control costs for roads,

water and sewer service, police and firefighters.

Kidner, lobbyist for the Realtors' group, the Home Builders

Association of Delaware, the Delaware Farm Bureau and other foes,

railed against the measure at House land-use hearings.

Over some members' objections, the panel sent the bill to the full

House for a vote, but it never came to the floor.

Rep. Valihura, the sponsor, said lobbying, especially by farmers,

took its toll. The Minner administration has no plans to resurrect

the initiative.

'Something in return'

Dover Downs is fighting a proposal to open a casino/hotel complex on

Wilmington's waterfront, a plan opposed by Gov. Minner.

During the 4 1/2-year period, lobbyists for the Dover racetrack and

casino spent $12,458. Dover Motor Sports, its sister company and

promoter of NASCAR races at Dover International Speedway, spent

$56,710.

While the companies are separate, both have the same chief executive,

Denis McGlynn. Until recently, they had the same lobbyists -- Byrd,

Wood, Ned , who died in October, and ' daughter . All

gave tickets to NASCAR races or other events, such as a concert and a

boxing match.

Byrd spent $3,030 for the casino and $8,975 for the speedway, some

provided by his clients and others he bought himself. " We are opposed

to any competition " beyond the facilities at Harrington Raceway and

Delaware Park, Byrd said.

Spending money for events, Byrd said, is a " way to petition

legislators and present ideas on behalf of my clients. You do nice

things for people. I take people to NASCAR races because I go to

NASCAR races. "

Massie Ritsch, spokesman for the Center for Responsive Politics, a

nonpartisan group in Washington that examines money in politics,

warned that recipients and the public should be aware that gifts come

with a catch.

" Spenders tend to get what they want more than the regular person, "

Ritsch said. " Your call is more likely to be returned by the lawmaker

himself if you are a big campaign contributor or a lobbyist. "

Lobbyist, after all, is merely another name for salesman. " They give

you something, " Ritsch said, " in hopes of getting something in

return. "

Staff reporters Mike Chalmers and contributed to this

article. Contact senior reporter Cris Barrish at 324-2785 or

cbarrish@....

BIG BUSINESS AGENDA

What's been at stake for Delaware companies that lobby heavily:

• Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Delaware is fighting a trio of bills that

have passed the Senate but are stalled in the House. One would let

the state regulate insurers' rate hikes.

• Verizon Delaware recently received permission to offer cable

television service.

• AstraZeneca has advocated stem cell research and cuts in gross

receipts taxes.

• Development interests derailed the governor's efforts to protect

nearly 450,000 acres of farmland.

• The Dover Downs casino has fought attempts to open a casino in

Wilmington.

• Delmarva Power sought to maintain good relations with lawmakers

amid public outcry about a 59 percent rate increase.

• The former Motiva refinery, now owned by Valero, contended with

calls to be shut down after several accidents, including an explosion

that killed one worker.

RULES ON GIFTS

Delaware: Lobbyists can give gifts of unlimited value to lawmakers

and other government officials as long as it doesn't impair the

official's judgment, adversely affect the public's confidence in the

government, or result in preferential treatment or decisions outside

official channels.

Other states: Nearly half restrict the value or types of gifts, and

some ban them entirely. Florida, South Carolina and Wisconsin have a

blanket prohibition, and Minnesota bans everything but " a trinket or

memento costing $5 or less. " California and New Jersey limit gifts to

$250 a year, Connecticut to $150 a year and Georgia to $100 annually,

except for a reception to which all state lawmakers are invited.

LOBBYISTS' DISCLOSURES

Delaware: Lobbyists must file a registration document that lists all

clients, along with the general nature of the client's issues, with

the state Public Integrity Commission. They do not have to reveal the

amount they are paid or specific legislation on which they lobbied.

Every three months, they must file a report summarizing all money

spent for each client on meals, entertainment, lodging, travel,

recreation and gifts. If the amount spent on any lawmaker or official

is above $50 in one day, they have to identify the recipient -- but

not the client -- and provide a general description of the gift,

which can be as vague as " gift'' or " ticket.'' They do not have to

report campaign donations to the commission.

Other states: Many require greater disclosure about clients and

spending. Alaska requires lobbyists to itemize all fees collected

from clients. Arizona lobbyists must identify takers of all gifts

worth $20; in Maine the threshold is $25. Wisconsin's government Web

site lists all lobbyists and the bills they have targeted, along with

the client's position. Some states, such as California, require

lobbyists to disclose campaign contributions.

PUBLIC OFFICIALS' FINANCIAL DISCLOSURES

Delaware: More than 300 state government officials, including those

the General Assembly, other statewide elected officials, department

and division directors, and deputies, judges and justices of the

peace must file an annual report listing their financial holdings,

business affiliations, debts over $1,000, outside income and

honoraria, and any gifts worth more than $250.

Other states: Gifts worth less than $250 must be disclosed by

officials in 23 states. The threshold for reporting gifts in Ohio is

$25. In Alaska, such gifts must be reported within 30 days. In

Hawaii, gifts worth more than $200 to a lawmaker's spouse or children

must also be reported.

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