The Top 20 Highest Paid Lobbyists
Thursday, January 20, 2011
Who are the highest paid Statehouse lobbyists this year? As the General Assembly winds up its next session, GoLocalProv has the rundown on the top 20 lobbyists who will earn the most in 2011.
They range from $1.4 million on the high end to about $80,000 at the bottom of the list. In total, the top 20 highest paid lobbyists will rake in over $7.5 million, according to data published on the Rhode Island Secretary of State’s Web site.
Who are these lobbyists? Most of them come from law firms. And most are old hands who have been in and outside of the Statehouse for decades. “It’s very much still the old standbys,” one Statehouse source tells GoLocalProv. “Largely the clients who employ these law firms are going there for the names on the door."
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CLICK HERE for the top ten highest paid lobbyists.
CLICK HERE for 11th through 20th highest paid lobbyists.
'The Broken System'
This ranking of the top 20 comes with one big caveat: because of inconsistencies in the way lobbyists report their compensation, getting at the exact numbers is no easy task. Some report their monthly compensation, some quarterly or semi-annually, and some record one lump sum for the entire year. In order to make fair comparisons, GoLocalProv multiplied out the monthly, quarterly, and semi-annual rates for the full year. (Click here to read our previous report on the lobbyist reporting.)
However, in some cases, lobbyists just recorded their hourly rates—with no corresponding tally of how many hours they logged in. Those lobbyists who only noted their hourly rate are not included in this ranking. A number of lobbyists also declined to even report their compensation—simply stating it is already included as part of their salary. On the upside, the highest paid lobbyists also tended to be the most meticulous and thorough in recording their compensation.
Advocate calls for change in law
Technically, only the companies that hire lobbyists have to report how much they are being paid, according to Chris Barnett, spokesman for Secretary of State Ralph Mollis. But, in order to provide more information to the public, he said the Secretary of State’s office asks lobbyists to record their estimated compensation when they register.
Even so, open government advocates say the system could be improved. John Marion, executive director of Common Cause Rhode Island, said the law governing lobbyists needs to be changed. As it now stands, he said it doesn’t specify how compensation should be reported. “So it leaves it up to the interpretation of the person filling out the report and that needs to be fixed,” Marion said. “Otherwise, you’ll never have comparable reports.” (Marion has direct experience with the system, as someone who's currently himself a registered lobbyist.)
In the meantime, he gave some credit to the Secretary of State’s office for stepping up efforts to enforce compliance with reporting requirements. “They’ve done more than they have in the past,” he said.
Photo Credit: Michelle Angela Terranova
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