There are hundreds of people who are paid to go to Richmond during session each year and lobby members of the General Assembly on behalf of businesses and interest groups. These folks make a real impact on the legislative process. Lobbyists are required to register with the state, naming their clients and stating what issues they’ve been hired to lobby for or against.
Unfortunately, that’s where the requirements end. They don’t have to say who they’re lobbying or cite a single bill that they’re concerned with. One lobbyist, hired by the Alcohol Beverage Council of Virginia, unhelpfully discloses that she’s representing the group in “matters affecting the alcohol beverage industry.” Most are just that vague. At the other end of the spectrum is a lobbyist representing AOL, disclosing that he’s representing their interest in the realms of “internet governance, technology policy, tax reform.” Which is much more helpful, but still just not very useful. Short of some significant change in lobbying regulations — which would be tough to pass, what with all of the lobbyists surely opposing it — that’s as good as it gets.
That said, there’s some useful information available. A list of all registered lobbyists can be found on the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website. But it’s presented in a far more useful format on the website of our friends at VPAP. There you can find who has volunteered that they’re lobbying about energy, farming, and even gamefowl. By looking over how many lobbyists are following an issue and who they’re working for, it can give you a good idea of how contentious that issue is likely to be and even whether a bill is likely to pass.
January 21st, 2008 at 10:24 am
Waldo — There is no “sic” needed for the Virginia Gamefowl Breeders Association. This was a typo in our listings. The Gamefowl folks spelled it correctly. VPAP apologizes for the error.
January 21st, 2008 at 12:17 pm
Thank you for that correction, David — I have corrected the blog entry accordingly.
January 25th, 2008 at 2:45 pm
The lobbyist registration statements are vague probably because they are filed long before session begins. Lobbyists do not know what bills they will end up lobbying on until all bills are filed. They may have an idea of the concepts they will work on, but no bill numbers have been assigned at the time lobby registration statements are filed. As a result they often write down something vague to cover all their bases. I don’t think there is anything underhanded going on.
It is better to look at the Expenditure Reports lobbyists are required to file each year. Those reports are due mid-year and are supposed to let the Commonwealth know about every dollar you spent on lobbying during the prior year. These reports contain more detail including how much money they dropped on gifts, meals, and entertainment. However, the level of detail varies widely. Some lobbysits report every bill they worked on and assign every penny of their expenses to specific items. Others stick with vague statements and even more vague expense reporting.
I would agree that lobbyist reports need provide more detailed information. I hope you find this helpful.
January 26th, 2008 at 12:09 am
Oh, no, I certainly wouldn’t want to imply that lobbyists are doing anything underhanded, and to the extent to which folks reading this might think that, I’m grateful for you post, JT. Lobbyists are doing all that is required of them. Personally, I’d like to see lobbyists required to provide considerably more detailed information. But I wouldn’t expect many of them to just up and volunteer to start doing so.
January 31st, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Hey Waldo, love this site. I’m not a lobbyist, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express last night. Actually, I hang out with a lot of lobbyist who are members of VSAE (Va Society of Association Executives). Your assumption that lobbying is bad and that these paid hacks are bad for the system is fundamentally wrong. Lobbying and free speech go hand in hand. In addition, having paid lobbyist allow legislators to quickly negotiate compromises between many rival factions rather than “hoping” they are doing what the people want. We are all a special interest. Everyone is represented by some lobbying organization at least in a remote fashion. Your site, for instance is represented by that lobbyist you mentioned from AOL. What’s good for AOL is probably good for every web business/site. Larry Sabato has studied lobbyist extensively. He started with the same premiss you have - that there is something bad going on here. But, after a great deal of research, he found that they were a very valuable and important part of the legislative process.
As far as having them diclose more…what else do you need to know? We all have our bias or agenda. That’s what being an American is all about.
January 31st, 2008 at 6:35 pm
That’s not my assumption, Dave — it’s yours. I never stated or implied any such thing. Richmond Sunlight was initially designed and tested with extensive help from several dear friends who are professional lobbyists in Richmond. Lobbyists provide some of the most useful information of all Richmond Sunlight participants, as I recently wrote on my own blog.
As I wrote in the blog entry: “They don’t have to say who they’re lobbying or cite a single bill that they’re concerned with.” Thus, providing that information is what else I — and many others — need to know.