Imagine the din.
The hallway just outside the House of Representatives chamber is manic with legislators talking and conferring with each other about the day’s issues.
The rotunda further down the hallway is cramped with suits and filled with more chatter. Manned tables are spread with information pamphlets; talking heads are ready to answer any question. Lawmakers mingle and wait for the ding, ding, ding calling them back into session.
Such is life in the state house, busy with influence and teeming with information necessary for making important decisions.
Well-dressed lobbyists crowd the hallways surrounding the House and Senate chambers. That’s what they do. That’s why they’re there. They seek out legislators and try to convince them of “the truth” in a particular issue. Sometimes they win; sometimes they lose, but always they are busy influencing. Always these lobbyists are giving out information.
“Lobbyists are called lobbyists because they hang out in the lobby,” said Rep. Gary Moore (R-Standish). “They give us their opinions and they try to get that view in your thoughts.”
Moore said that while most Mainers have negative impressions of lobbyists, he believes lobbyists are good for the system, and good for him.
“Sometimes the sheer number of lobbyists in the state house hallways can be somewhat daunting,” Moore said. “But most are very professional and are there to convince you of their point of view.”
Rep. Dave Tobin (R-Windham) thinks lobbyists are vital to the legislating process as well.
“When I first went to Augusta, I tried to stay away from the lobbyists, but it didn’t take me long to realize they are invaluable.”
Tobin says that most legislators are wary of lobbyists but at the same time consider them useful in learning background on issues.
“Some of these issues can be quite scientific, quite intricate. I think lobbyists are there to bring this stuff down to our level, so to speak,” Tobin said. “We have to rely on lobbyists because they are very knowledgeable in their fields. Once you talk to both sides of an issue, you can usually make up your mind.”
Rep. Joe Bruno (R-Raymond) has many years of experience with lobbyists. He agrees with Tobin that legislators can use lobbyists as sources of information only if lobbyists representing both sides of an issue are consulted.
“Lobbyists provide a service for their clients for which they are paid,” said Bruno. “They present a biased viewpoint on behalf of the client but most legislators know that when they speak with them. It is too bad when there isn’t a counter viewpoint from someone on the other side of an issue.”
Effective lobbyists are those that legislators come to trust to give them factual, albeit lop-sided, information. Without honesty, lobbying careers are short-lived in Augusta.
“A lobbyist, like a legislator, is only as good as the information they provide,” said Bruno. “Once a lobbyist is caught giving misinformation, they are no longer effective.”
According to the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, the definition of a lobbyist is someone who “is employed by another person for the purpose of, and who engages in, lobbying more than 8 hours in any calendar month.”
The Ethics Commission defines lobbying as “communicating directly with any official in the Legislature for the purpose of influencing any legislative action … when reimbursement for expenditures or compensation is made for those activities.”
In other words, lobbyists in the eyes of the state government are those that get paid to influence legislators. Most of these paid lobbyists have to register with the Ethics Commission and, if they lobby more than 8 hours per month, have to file monthly financial reports.
“They have to fill out reports disclosing what bills they worked on and what they spent,” said Diane True, registrar for the Ethics Commission.
True said there are 324 registered lobbyists in Maine. Lobbyists can register for $200 per year, and lobbyist associates are charged $100.
Some registered lobbyists, like Bob Tardy, represent many different organizations.
“I represent Scarborough Downs, Kraft Foods North America, Croplife America, and Miller Breweries. When specific legislation comes up, I also represent LensCrafters and National Rent-a-Car,” said Tardy.
Tardy is a typical lobbyist in that he has prior experience in Augusta as a legislator. Like most lobbyists, Tardy attends committee meetings and, though lobbyists are not allowed inside the Senate or House chambers, lobbyists like Tardy can quite often be seen in the hallways conversing with legislators.
“I want to be a face that is there and available when legislators have a question,” said Tardy. “I want to be there consistently both to show them I’m interested in the case at hand and that I can be a resource to them when they have a question.”
Tardy, a resident of Palmyra who has lobbied recently on behalf of Scarborough Downs in the ongoing racino issue, said small staffs have made lobbyists even more necessary in Augusta.
“There’s not a lot of staff available to legislators in Maine. Unlike Washington D.C. where there are many bureaucrats and staff aides to study an issue, Maine legislators have little in the way of internal informational guidance to go on. That makes lobbyists more of an educational tool for members of the legislature.”
Tardy also sees term limits as a reason why lobbyists have become very influential in Augusta.
“Legislators turn over at a very rapid rate now that we have term limits in place,” said Tardy. “New legislators don’t have the background many times to make informed decisions. And sometimes, it’s more than telling legislators about issues, it’s informing them on parliamentary procedure – how to get bills out of committee, or how to construct an amendment.”
Another lobbyist who has much experience fighting causes in Augusta is Hollis’ Don Marean. Though not a registered lobbyist, Marean has lobbied on behalf of Scarborough Downs and horse racing interests over the years. Marean sees lobbying as a fundamental part of the democratic process and believes trust and presence is key to a good lobbying style.
“Credibility and integrity are huge factors as far as I’m concerned,” said Marean who owns Lindon farm on the Standish/Hollis line. “I do it from the heart.”
Marean, like most unregistered and unpaid lobbyists, says it’s easy to be sincere when he lobbies.
“I’m trying to sell them on an idea of what I believe is best,” said Marean. “That’s my goal. I stick to the subject, but you never know if you’ve been influential.”
Marean says lobbying is more than just the spoken word however. Actions, he says, sometimes speak louder than words in Augusta.
“Just your presence in a committee meeting, or consistent appearances in the hallways, adds something to the discussion,” said Marean. “They know you are truly sincere if you take the time to show up day after day. Just showing up, I think, shows a tremendous sense of responsibility.”
In addition to the paid and unpaid lobbyists who daily tread the halls of the state house, legislators like Moore, Bruno, and Tobin experience lobbying pretty much all day, every day. And, using a broad definition of the term, even legislators can be lobbyists.
“In Augusta, they say the greatest number of lobbyists actually work for the government, but even they can’t out-number the amount of people I run into all the time in Standish trying to get me to vote one way or another,” said Moore. “Everyone, when you think about it, are lobbyists for one cause or another. That’s what government is all about. We are all trying to influence each other, myself included, to see things our way. From the person at the grocery store who tells me how they feel to myself lobbying fellow legislators on bills, we are all trying to influence the opinion of others.”
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