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<h1 class="articleTitle">Interest groups’ lobbying tally tops $500 million</h1>
<div class="articleAttrib"><div class="byLine">By <a href="/author.php?_c=10f09r5zte293m2&1=&xid=2">Anthony York</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<span class="articleAttribDate">02/12/09 12:00 AM PST</span></div></div>
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<div class="articleBody"><p>
California labor unions, business associations and
other interest groups spent more than $558 million &ndash; about $764,000 a day &ndash;&nbsp;
to influence California government during the 2007-08 legislative session, according to state records analyzed
by Capitol Weekly.
</p>
<p>
<br />
Leading the way was the Service Employees International
Union which spent $10.9 million over the two-year period. The Western States Petroleum Association,
which represents oil and gas companies, spent $10.5 million over the same biennial span. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
Rounding out the list of top five spenders was the
California Teachers Association ($7.9 million), the Bromine Science and Environmental Forum ($6.5 million), and the California Hospital Association ($5.9 million)<br />
Spending for the last legislative cycle was up from
$504 million spent during the 2005-06 cycle. 
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<p>
<br />
&ldquo;If they keep paying year after year, obviously they
feel they have a return on their money,&rdquo; said Robert Stern, president of the nonpartisan Center
for Governmental Studies. &ldquo;It shows how much more money is involved in Sacramento.&rdquo; 
</p>
<p>
<br />
The payments include money spent on lobbying the Legislature
and state agencies. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
But not all the money is going into the pockets of
high-powered contract lobbyists, or even salaried, in-house association lobbyists. The vast majority of SEIU&rsquo;s money, for example &ndash; $9.4 million &ndash; did not go directly to lobbyists. Instead, it was
used on other lobbying activities, including busing
members from around the state for rallies and legislative
days in Sacramento. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
&ldquo;We are the largest union in the state &ndash; 705,000 members and growing,&rdquo; said Courtni Pugh, head of SEIU in California. &ldquo;Just to send our members one piece of mail costs thousands
of dollars.&rdquo; 
</p>
<p>
<br />
Pugh was unapologetic about her union&rsquo;s political spending. &ldquo;There is no denying that we try to keep a purple presence
in the Capitol,&rdquo; she said, referring to the purple t-shirts SEIU members wear as they lobby legislators
in Sacramento. She said the money has been spent on
rallies, lobbying trips for union members from around
the state, mail to SEIU members, and &ldquo;patch-through&rdquo; calls, which connect SEIU members directly with the
offices of state lawmakers. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
&ldquo;Just last year alone, we did over 87,000 phone calls,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all a part of the money we spend on lobbying.&rdquo; 
</p>
<p>
<br />
And while other sectors of the economy may be hurting,
and other lobbyists have anecdotally said there has
been some decrease in lobbying activity from corporate
clients, Pugh says SEIU is showing no signs of letting
up. 
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<p>
<br />
&ldquo;My guess is you&rsquo;ll see those numbers increase,&rdquo; she said of SEIU&rsquo;s advocacy spending, adding that most of the lobbying
efforts this cycle will be focused on protecting service
workers in the state budget process. &ldquo;The most important thing to us is the budget.<br />
While membership contact was a large source of the
lobbying payments overall, private lobbying firms weren&rsquo;t exactly hurting. Lobbyists reported collecting $322 million, up from $298 million in 2005-06. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
The top lobbying firms in terms of billing for 2007-08 were KP Public Affairs at $12.1 million; Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller &amp; Naylor collected $11 million. Lang Hansen O&rsquo;Malley and Miller reported $9.2 million; Aaron Read &amp; Associates was fourth with $9. Capitol Advocacy rounded out the top-five list with more than $8.5 million in reported earnings over the two-year stretch. $8,542,328.07 
</p>
<p>
<br />
Overall, the lobbying payments reflect the largest
legislative fights of the last session. Many of the
top spenders were involved in the fight over expanding
health care coverage in a year when health care reform
was the top legislative priority of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.
</p>
<p>
<br />
SEIU was a staunch supporter of the proposal pushed
by Gov. Schwarzenegger and former Speaker Fabian N&uacute;&ntilde;ez, D-Los Angeles. The California Hospital Association, the
Chamber of Commerce and Blue Cross &ndash; who were all among the top ten spenders &ndash; also played key rolls in advocating for or against
the health care plan. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
The other big spending came from groups involved in
the fight over restrictions of various chemicals. The
Bromine Science and Environmental Forum&nbsp;
is an industry group that fought against bills restricting
the use of various fire retardant chemicals. The American
Chemistry Council, which spent more than $5.7 million, also fought against many similar bills seeking
to ban or restrict use of various chemicals in everything
from blankets to artificial butter flavoring. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
The overall expenditures reflect an uptick in lobbyist
payments from previous years. During the 2005-06 legislative session, interests spent just more than
$504 million to influence California decision makers. 
</p>
<p>
<br />
The spending from that session also reflects where
the governmental and legislative action was in that
session. Topping the list of lobbyist employers during
that session were two telecommuncations groups &ndash; AT&amp;T spent $23.6 million, and another AT&amp;T backed coalition, TV 4 US, spent $15.9 million. Verizon and Comcast were also among the top
lobbying spenders during that cycle.<br />
During that session, N&uacute;&ntilde;ez sponsored sweeping legislation that allowed telecom
companies to lay new cables and plant utility boxes
in any town without asking local government permission.
The bill also limited government oversight over telecom
package plans. 
</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
<p>
<b>BIG SPENDERS</b><br />
Top lobbyist employers for 2007-08<br />
(*Total Spent: $558,419,109)<br />
California State Council of Service Employees&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$10,962,230<br />
Western States Petroleum Association &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$10,587,795&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
California Teachers Association &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$7,976,040&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Burson-Marsteller for The Bromine Science and Environmental
Forum&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$6,500,665<br />
California Hospital Association&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$5,961,373<br />
American Chemistry Council&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$5,717,318<br />
California Chamber of Commerce&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$5,635,118<br />
League of California Cities&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$4,415,330&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Morongo Band of Mission Indians&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$4,389,197<br />
Blue Cross of California&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$4,377,450<br />
*Reflects the total amount spent by all groups on lobbying
activity in 2007-08<br />
<br />
<b>TOP LOBBYING FIRMS 2007-08</b><br />
(*Total Collected &ndash; $321,763,263)<br />
KP Public Affairs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$12,112,469&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Nielsen, Merksamer, Parrinello, Mueller &amp; Naylor &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$11,058,792<br />
Lang, Hansen, O&rsquo;Malley and Miller&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$9,203,024<br />
Aaron Read &amp; Associates&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$9,045,010&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Capitol Advocacy&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$8,542,328&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Sloat Higgins Jensen &amp; Associates&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$7,615,714&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Platinum Advisors&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$6,936,647&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Townsend Public Affairs&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$6,417,722&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Public Policy Advocates&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$6,215,386&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Governmental Advocates&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$5,934,908&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
GCG Rose &amp; Kindel&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$5,253,079&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
Joe Gonsalves &amp; Son &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$4,985,260&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
The Gualco Group&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
$4,928,024&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
<br />
(*Reflects payments received by all registered lobbyists
in 2007-08)<br />
&nbsp;
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