Under the radar, lobbyists are key dealmakers

The lobbyists of Smith Hill aren’t hard to find.

They clog State House hallways, chatting among the great marble pillars. They line the walls of finance committee rooms. And they swarm the floors of the House and Senate chambers before and after sessions.

The lobbyists of Smith Hill are a tight-knit fraternity, mostly middle-age men, who have worked with Rhode Island lawmakers for decades. Many are former elected officials with family connections to state government that span generations. They are former majority leaders and lieutenant governors, legislative aides and chiefs of staff.

This week, as legislators move into final negotiations on the fiscal 2008 budget, the lobbyists will play a key role. They work behind the scenes to ensure their clients’ interests aren’t forgotten. And they are effective.

Many lobbyists understand the Rhode Island political system better than the newer legislators. And they are often friends with the lawmakers they seek to influence.

“Let’s face it. This is a small state,” says Richard Licht, a former lieutenant governor and lobbyist for the law firm Tillinghast Licht. “The speaker, the committee chairmen, they know on a first-name basis every single lobbyist, everybody who’s up there on a regular basis. They know us all.”

But most of the lobbyists like to stay out of the public eye.

They don’t like to be quoted in newspaper stories. Some don’t like to have their pictures taken.

State law requires the lobbyists to wear blue badges showing their names and whom they represent. But few outside of state government know just what they do.

“The vast majority of lobbyists are under the radar,” says Newport Grand lobbyist Christopher Boyle, a former Senate majority whip, noting that he doesn’t like to speak to the media. “I’m not a public relations official. I advocate for clients, that’s what I’m hired to do.”

But the lobbyists of Smith Hill play a crucial role in state government. They are the primary source of information for lawmakers deciding which laws to pass, where to distribute money, and what social programs to cut.

“The easy path [for information] is to go with the lobbyist you like and you trust and you play golf with,” says Phil West, longtime State House presence as former director of Common Cause of Rhode Island, a government watchdog group. “Most of the lobbyists at the State House are nice people. They have an interest in being nice. They’re good salespeople. They’re knowledgeable. They’re smart. What’s not to like about that?”

THERE ARE 500 registered legislative lobbyists in Rhode Island this session.

They represent powerful interests such as gambling venues and organized labor. They represent community health clinics and child-care centers. They represent state departments such as the attorney general’s office and the secretary of state.

And they represent everything in between.

“What is a lobbyist but a person who is exercising their right to petition the government for redress of grievances?” says Steven Brown, who has lobbied the legislature for two decades as head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island. “Some get paid a lot more for doing it than others. And some are a lot more successful at it than others. But anybody on a regular basis who tries to persuade the legislature to do something is a lobbyist.”

The secretary of state’s office defines a legislative lobbyist as anyone who engages “in lobbying activity as the appointed representative of another person.” All active lobbyists are required to register with the state. They must file electronic monthly reports detailing their clients, compensation from each client, and political donations.

Lobbyists are not allowed on the floor during House and Senate sessions. Nor are they allowed to give lawmakers gifts exceeding $25 at one time or $75 for the year.

“The public perception or the myth is that we’re always all out drinking every night. I wish it were true. In my dreams,” laughs high-profile lobbyist Robert Goldberg, a former four-term state senator and minority leader. “They’ve changed the rules such that the socializing is all but over. If anybody’s buying a round of drinks it’s the legislators. We can’t.”

And while gifts such as free travel, meals and tickets to professional sporting events are prohibited, lobbyists are regulars at legislators’ fundraisers. Some, like Goldberg, attend as many as three or four fundraisers a day. Tickets generally cost between $50 and $150.

It can be difficult to track each lobbyist’s contributions over the year, but an analysis by Common Cause revealed that Goldberg is among the top contributors.

He gave $16,590.44 to members of the General Assembly over the three-year period between 2002 and 2004. He was second to John Hogan, of the firm F/S Capitol Consulting, who gave $18,247.76, according to the Common Cause analysis.

Without exception, the lobbyists interviewed for this story play down the impact of their contributions.

Licht, who ran twice unsuccessfully for federal office, says, “I don’t think anybody makes a contribution that’s that significant. I’ve been involved in major races — I raised millions of dollars to run for the U.S. Senate. That was serious fundraising. These events, I find them to be social events; I find them to be useful to be able to talk to your colleagues. I respect them enough to know that my $100 is not impacting their decision one way or the other.”

West, formerly of Common Cause, couldn’t disagree more.

“They wouldn’t be giving all this money in campaign contributions if they weren’t getting something back,” he says. “Anybody who says that money is not a driving factor has been smoking something.”

Brown, of the ACLU, says that political donations are not inherently bad and that they’re largely protected by the First Amendment. Yet he acknowledges that lobbyists who don’t donate are at a disadvantage.

“The high-powered lobbyists have better access. I don’t think there’s any question about that,” Brown says. “I can’t think of a way to level the playing field without doing serious damage to basic First Amendment principles. I think it’s something that needs to be recognized, but it’s inherent in the system.”

THE PART-TIME legislators of the Rhode Island General Assembly say they need lobbyists.

Most lawmakers do not have staff. And because most have day jobs, they have neither the time nor the expertise to research and create detailed legislation.

“I find lobbyists to be relatively honest and good sources of information,” says Rep. Carol A. Mumford, R-Scituate. “You can generally trust the information that’s given to you from a lobbyist, because if you find out later on that it’s incorrect, that’s it, you don’t go to that lobbyist again. I have found them to be relatively honorable.”

Sen. Joshua Miller, D-Cranston, notes that not all lobbyists represent major for-profit corporations. He says he depends heavily on environmental advocates.

“I look to them for the expertise. They have the experience,” he says. “It’s not all special interests. There are people up here who represent the interest of the people, the voters.”

Some academics think that lobbyists play an important role.

“What often is overlooked is the positive aspects, particularly in our system where they don’t have a lot of staff,” says Maureen Moakley, chairwoman of the University of Rhode Island’s political science department. “The fact is they make the process work.”

The lack of staffing and subsequent reliance on lobbyists are factors in the annual push to consider a full-time legislature. But Moakley says it’s possible to improve the situation by adding staff without going full-time.

“You’d get professional staff that mitigates the influence of lobbyists because legislators can get information from another source,” she says. “People may not like lobbyists informing legislators, but they’re not willing to expand the bureaucracy to do otherwise.”

And there are concerns about the balance of influence on Smith Hill.

Those who contribute money, or have stronger political connections, generally have better access to the State House decision makers, Moakley acknowledges.

“Obviously, big money talks,” she says. “And it’s about who you know. In a small state, those connections are magnified.”

Goldberg, who will make more than $50,500 this month representing 13 clients, is both well-paid and well-connected. The former Senate minority leader is married to Supreme Court Justice Maureen McKenna Goldberg. And he spends almost every day at the State House.

He dismisses critics who say he has more influence than other lobbyists.

“I don’t believe that at all because I can’t think of an institution where there’s more access to everybody or anybody,” he says. “I think it’s incredible, really, how accessible every member of the Assembly here is.”

Most of his contact with lawmakers, he says, takes place out in the open, in hallways, before and after floor sessions, and at fundraisers.

“There are some in the business who try to do everything they can to stay under the radar or in the backroom. I don’t subscribe to that theory,” he says. “To me, it breeds almost an aura of mysteriousness or distrust by the public. I’m the lobbyist for these people and I don’t care who knows it. I’m not saying I welcome the general public in on every meeting, but I don’t think it calls for any secrecy, who you’re lobbying for, or who you’re meeting. But there are people who adamantly disagree.”

All of the lobbyists interviewed acknowledged the public perception that many lobbyists are corrupt, but none complained.

Rick McAuliffe, a lobbyist with the Mayforth Group, isn’t bothered by negative public opinion.

“I think the public will latch onto the sexier issue of corruption or a lobbyist that has undue influence on a legislator, but I wish they saw more of the other, where we’re going up there to lobby for a child-development center,” he says. “If you want to play in this game, you got to take the hits. For anyone to complain, I think, quite frankly, they shouldn’t be in the game.”