As Session Ends, Lobbyists Report Raking In Millions

There is still a lot to be decided between now and midnight on Wednesday, when the gavel automatically comes down on the General Assembly session at the state Capitol.

The lobbyists have been running grooves in the halls of the Capitol for months, never more feverishly than now. Yet with so much left to be decided many of them are still unsure whether all the asking, pleading and, yes, begging for votes has paid off for their clients.

At least they know how much cash they’re raking in, though. And now, finally, so will everyone else.

According to filing data obtained by the Hartford Business Journal, $11.1 million has been paid to lobbyists in 2007, through May 23. The Office of State Ethics plans to put the data on the Internet June 8.

Considering that many payments arrive near the end of one month or the beginning of the next, that still puts the industry about on pace with the two previous years, as lobbyists took in $26.7 million last year and $29.1 million in 2005.

Data on what’s inside all those black leather briefcases is long overdue. Though state law requires that lobbyists report their compensation to the state and that the information be made public, data for 2005, 2006 and 2007 hasn’t been available because of restructuring of the Ethics office. In terms of who is making what and who is paying what, the record after 2004 was blank.

Not anymore. Critical areas of state policy may still be up in the air, but here is who is pocketing the money being poured into the process and the clients who are holding the checkbooks.

Gaffney Wins
In terms of lucrative lobbying, the conversation still starts with New Britain-based Gaffney, Bennett & Assoc., whose dominance in the market remains. In each year from 2000 to 2004, the firm brought in between $4.0 and $4.5 million, and it is on about the same pace this year, having been paid about $1.3 million thus far.

The next three spots are also the same from 2004, with Robinson & Cole ($627,686), Sullivan & LeShane ($570,079) and Levin, Powers, Brennan & Shea ($510,545) the others over a half million this year to date.

If the firms were publicly traded, a stock one might like to have is that of Rome Smith & Assoc., in fifth place with $438,601 this year, after taking only about $556,264 for all of 2004.

Founded by former Senate Republican Majority Leader Lew Rome and former Democratic Rep. Pete Smith, the firm represents a handful of big reliables, like Pfizer at $70,000 per year and the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority at $12,000 per month, as well as earning a big chunk of money — $61,425 per year — from the Connecticut Association of Realtors. But it reports payments from 26 total clients in all, many of which will be worth at least $10,000 for the year.

Another firm that’s been bulking up is Halloran & Sage, which never ranked in the top 10 from 1999 to 2004, but which pulled in $285,760 already this year, putting it in the seventh pole position. Part of a 72-year-old law firm based in Hartford, the lobbying unit was buoyed by $26,076 for its difficult work pushing the Broadwater liquid natural gas project. It also capitalized on the debate over health care by cornering the market on specialty medical groups such as eye physicians, dentists, orthopedists, dermatologists and the state Ear Nose and Throat Society.

Falling Behind
While Roy & Leroy ($380,743) and Murtha Cullina ($345,033) are holding steady so far, others haven’t been. Hughes & Cronin, which banked $794,354 in 2004, has more than two dozen clients now but only $278,361 to show for them. Some of them might be more trouble than they are worth. Feld Entertainment, the parent of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Baily Circus — which has been defending its elephant handling tactics — is scheduled to pay only $17,000 for the year, which might look like a bargain if it comes out unscathed.

Updike, Kelly & Spellacy may have fallen out of the top tier. Though the firm still boasts big checks from Northeast Utilities and Diageo (global seller of Smirnoff, Guinness, etc.), it took in $706,611 in 2004, well beyond the pace set by the $154,651 it has amassed to date. It had 27 clients in 2004; it has payments from 14 this year.

Whether growing or shrinking, the bad news for all the firms is that gross spending on lobbying, as campaign finance reform arrived, has been essentially flat for the last three years.

The good news is that at the end of every session, there are clients who are unhappy with the outcome and looking to pay for a better one next time around.

Jonathan O'Connell is a Hartford Business Journal staff writer.