Former Lawmakers Cash in Playing Revolving Door Game
Monday, July 02, 2012
Eleven former lawmakers combined to earn more than $2 million influencing their former colleagues on Smith Hill during the 2012 legislative session, according to a GoLocalProv review of lobbyist records filed with the Secretary’s of State’s office.
In total, at least 21 former State Senators and Representatives walked through the revolving door to register as lobbyists this year, including former House Speaker William Murphy, who earned at least $78,000 representing four clients.
And Murphy, who left office in 2010, is only at the beginning of what could prove to be a lucrative career as a lobbyist.
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Former Senate Minority Leader Robert Goldberg, who is widely considered one of the most influential lobbyists on Smith Hill, will earn approximately $765,000 during the 2012 calendar year lobbying on behalf of more than a dozen companies. GTECH pays his company $12,500 per month. Twin River pays him $10,000 each month. CVS Caremark pays him $5,416.67 each month.
While many lawmakers-turned-lobbyists simply register because state law requires them to do so, some, like Goldberg, former Senate Finance chairman Stephen Alves, former House Majority Whip Chris Boyle and former House Majority Leader George Caruolo are making hundreds of thousands of dollars each year. By the end of 2012, that group alone will have raked in at least $1.7 million, records show.
“In an ideal world former Representatives and Senators would return to the work they did prior to running for office and not trade on the influence they developed for personal gain,” said Common Cause executive director John Marion. “Unfortunately we don't live in that world and likely won't for some time.”
Hiring Former Lawmakers Can Pay Off
Between becoming lobbyists or in some cases, magistrates or judges, Marion said it is becoming increasingly common for former lawmakers or staffers to trade their time in the General Assembly or as a staff member on Smith Hill for personal gain later.
The reason companies want to hire former insiders is simple: It works.
Murphy was paid $50,000 by Advance America to lobby against legislation that would have placed a cap on payday loans at 36 percent interest, down from the 261 percent. Despite the bill having plenty of support in both chambers, Murphy was able to convince the House to table the discussion for a second straight year. (Murphy consulted with Advance America in 2011, but was not a registered lobbyist.)
Last month, retiring State Senator John Tassoni indicated he too plans to register as a lobbyist as soon as he clears the one-year “cooling off period” in between the time former lawmakers can register as lobbyists.
According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, the Ocean State is one of 35 states that forces lawmakers to wait a certain period of time before they can become lobbyists. In most cases, the wait is one year. Seven states (Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New York and Oklahoma) have implemented two-year bans while 14 states have zero restrictions at all.
Marion said Rhode Island has strong revolving door laws but noted that they could still be improved.
“We do have a very good revolving door provision in the Code of Ethics that prevents them from immediately lobbying,” he said. “Closing that door permanently would be really difficult to achieve.”
Cicilline Wants Lifetime Ban in Congress
While local lawmakers aren’t likely to change the state’s revolving door laws in the near future, Congressman David Cicilline is making the issue one of his top priorities in Washington. Earlier this year, Cicilline co-sponsored legislation that would enact a lifetime ban on members of Congress becoming lobbyists.
"This is a simple idea," Cicilline told MSNBC's Dylan Ratigan earlier this year. "That is if you have the privilege of serving the Congress of the United States, that when your service has concluded, when you retire or move on, you can't become a lobbyist."
Cicilline continued: "You should not be able to take your public service and leverage it to your own financial and private gain and to distort our democracy by amplifying the voices of special influences.”
There is little research on the revolving door at the state level, but a study released last year by LegiStorm found that 393 current and former members of Congress have appeared as lobbyists over the last decade.
"For every person the American people have elected to sponsor legislation of public benefit, special interests have more than one former legislative advocate now working on the inside in Congress," said Jock Friedly, founder and president of LegiStorm. "That represents a large network of people to influence decisions and to provide valuable intelligence."
Marion said voters don’t elect their representatives knowing they’ll one day be able to cash in from their experience.
“We send our representatives to Congress and the General Assembly to represent us, not to burnish their resume so they can someday become lobbyists,” he said.
Dan McGowan can be reached at [email protected].
