"Galvin faulted on rules for lobbyists" by Michael Levenson | Globe Staff, August 08, 2013
A Suffolk Superior Court judge has ordered Secretary of State William F. Galvin to cover more than $100,000 in attorneys’ fees for a group of lobbyists who challenged his zealous interpretation of the state’s revamped ethics laws.
Even the courts are in the pocket of corporations here in the liberal(?) fascist(?) one-party Democratic state.
Judge Janet Sanders found that Galvin had overstepped his legal authority by trying to force lobbyists to report every time they spoke to a legislator or state official, even while passing one of them in a steakhouse or State House hallway.
(Blog editor smiles)
The lobbyists who filed the lawsuit were a diverse group that included business interests as well as a prominent government watchdog organization that traditionally advocates for stricter lobbying rules.
Robert E. Gibbons, a veteran hospital and health industry lobbyist and one of the plaintiffs, said he might have 45 or 50 conversations a day with legislators and cannot even remember them all, let alone report them to Galvin’s office.
“The judge agreed it was ridiculous on its face,” Gibbons said Wednesday.
The ruling is a blow to Galvin’s efforts to try to pry loose more information about lobbyists’ dealings on Beacon Hill, an often secretive area that exploded into the public eye when former House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi and Richard McDonough, a veteran State House lobbyist, were convicted two years ago of trying to help a software company win state contracts in exchange for kickbacks....
Related: DiMasi is Dying
Also see: Federal appeals court rejects DiMasi bid to overturn conviction
They should have at least approved his appeal to be moved closer to home.
Lobbyists spent $119.6 million to influence state policy last year....
But it didn't buy anything. That's what we are told.
The six lobbyists who brought the lawsuit include representatives of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, a business lobby, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts, as well Pamela H. Wilmot, executive director of Common Cause Massachusetts, a government watchdog group that often pushes for tighter ethics and lobbying laws.
Wilmot, like Harshbarger a former national president of Common Cause, was a member of a task force that helped write the 2009 lobbying law after the DiMasi scandal. She could not be reached Wednesday for comment.
Richard C. Lord, president of Associated Industries of Massachusetts, said the fact that the plaintiffs represent such diverse interests shows they all agreed that Galvin was pushing the law too far....
Galvin’s demand that lobbyists disclose the names of the lawmakers and officials they meet and talk to would have placed “a huge administrative burden” on lobbyists, Lord said.
The lobbyists were represented by Carl Valvo, whose firm — Cosgrove, Eisenberg & Kiley — also represented DiMasi in his federal corruption trial. The plaintiffs set up a group, Citizens for Public Policy Advocacy, that sought $400 donations from every lobbyist in the state to pay the legal bills.
Valvo would not disclose how much the group raised, but said it was “not enough” to defray the cost of the litigation. That means Galvin will have to use taxpayer funds to pay the $102,865 in legal bills incurred by the plaintiffs.
It may surprise you to see me type this, but I don't care. It didn't go to corporations, Hollywood, or banks. It was a worthy effort and cause.
In trying to force lobbyists to disclose their conversations with lawmakers, Galvin seized on a part of the lobbying law that requires lobbyists to report their “direct business associations” with public officials.
But Sanders rejected that interpretation. “To put it bluntly, this argument makes absolutely no sense,” she wrote, adding that Galvin’s case was based on a “mangled use of the English language.”
Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying.
Sanders said the plain intent of the law was to require lobbyists to disclose formal business relationships they have with lawmakers and officials, not meetings or conversations to influence public policy.
Representative Peter V. Kocot, a Northampton Democrat who helped write the law, said the Legislature never intended lobbyists to disclose which lawmakers and officials they are buttonholing in State House hallways.
“The pure volume of information that would have resulted . . . would be extremely difficult for the average person to weed through,” he said.
Then send it over to the NSA. They collect everything!
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Also see: Crowdfunding watchdog unit formed
Looks like he is pi$$ing off a whole bunch of people.
Mu$t be why I like him!
This should galvanize you against them, Americans:
"Lobbyists can get public pensions in 20 states; Critics question whether system hurts taxpayers" by Michael Gormley | Associated Press, August 26, 2013
ALBANY, N.Y. — As a lobbyist in New York’s State House, Stephen Acquario is doing pretty well. He pulls down $204,000 a year, more than the governor makes, gets a Ford Explorer as his company car, and is afforded another special perk:
Even though he is not a government employee, he is entitled to a full state pension.
What?
He is among hundreds of lobbyists in at least 20 states who get public pensions because they represent associations of counties, cities, and school boards, an Associated Press review found. Legislatures granted them access decades ago on the premise that they serve governments and the public. In many cases, such access also includes state health care benefits.
Are you flipping kidding me?
But several states have started to question whether these organizations should qualify for such benefits, since they are private entities in most respects: They face no public oversight of their activities, can pay their top executives private-sector salaries, and sometimes lobby for positions in conflict with taxpayers.
New Jersey and Illinois are among the states considering legislation that would end their inclusion. ‘‘It’s a question of, ‘Why are we providing government pensions to these private organizations?’ ’’ said Illinois Representative Elaine Nekritz, a Democrat.
Because it $eems like that is what government does.
Related: Globe Cuts Illinois Pensions
No safe passage there. No wonder Illinois's pension system is in the $hitter.
Maine is among the 20 states that allow at least one private lobbying group into the public pension system, according to the AP count. It is the only state in New England that allows the practice.
Acquario, executive director and general counsel of the New York State Association of Counties, argues that his group gives local government a voice in the State House, and the perk of a state pension makes it easier to hire people with government expertise.
‘‘We want the people that work in local governments to continue to be part of the solution,’’ he said. ‘‘We represent the same taxpayers.’’
The debate is more about principle than big money, since the staffs of such organizations are relatively small and make barely a ripple in huge state retirement systems....
UNREAL! The ma$$ media making excuse for the lobbyi$ts!
Still, the issue raises a public policy question as many states and taxpayers struggle to fund their pension obligations required by law.
‘‘There is liability for taxpayers,’’ said Keith Brainard, research director of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. ‘‘Providing a pension benefit involves some amount of risk for the state and when you provide access to employees of entities that are not in control of the state.’’
Unlike state government, for example, these groups aren’t bound by salary restrictions — significant salary increases would result in increasing pension benefits.
It's called padding your pension, and it is an industry in Massachusetts government.
New York Conference of Mayors executive director Peter Baynes, who makes $196,000 a year and gets a 2012 Jeep Grand Cherokee, argues that his and other associations have been at the fore of pushing to reduce taxpayers’ costs, including reducing the costs of the pension system they share.
Yeah, by GETTING TEACHERS, COPS, and FIREFIGHTERS to GIVE BACK and PAY MORE for their benefits!
Yup, the money addicts are helping us by costing us more!
Why does government have to lobby itself anyway?
New York lawmakers recently acted to reduce benefits for future government hires and are proposing 401(k) savings programs for employees instead of traditional pensions.
Yeah, EVERY DAMN DOLLAR has to be DIVERTED to the MONEY HANDLERS and WALL STREET!
But such cuts won’t affect Baynes. Under the New York Constitution and that of most states, the benefits of those already in the pension system are protected from future cuts.
But YOURS have to be REOPENED and RENEGOTIATED!
‘‘It’s clear that there’s a big problem with hypocrisy when these lobbyists have been pushing austerity and benefit cuts for other government workers while they themselves enjoy solid state pensions,’’ said Michael Kink of the progressive group Strong Economy for All Coalition. ‘‘ ‘Do as I say, not as I do’ seems to be their approach on retirement cuts.’’
You know, “nothing focuses the mind like the prospect of a hanging”
That can focus one, too!
Line up the lobbyists!
In many states, lobbying groups for states and counties take positions that could conflict with taxpayer interests, such as advocating to weaken caps on property tax increases and boosting state school aid.
But they will at least get a nice pension and a new car(?) out of the deal.
But associations of cities, counties, and school boards argue that a plausible case can be made for allowing them to get state pensions.
Just keep those campaign contributions coming, right? If you doubted that city, state, and federal governments were in the pocket of these f***ers you can remove it now.
These quasigovernment organizations operate mostly or solely on dues from their members — local governments or school boards typically — which are paid out of taxpayer-funded budgets. They argue they pool their resources to give a voice to government entities that serve taxpayers.
‘‘It’s a technical truism that lobbying groups are not supposed to be in the system,’’ said Richard Brodsky, a former New York assemblyman. ‘‘But what they are doing is carrying out missions assigned to them by public officials in the public interest as they understand it.’’
The 20 states found to allow private lobbyists into the state pension system are: Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Missouri, Nevada, New York, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and Washington.
Start constructing the guillotines now.
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