The Georgia Chamber of Commerce hosted at least 32 state lawmakers and public officials at its annual convention in June on St. Simons Island. According to records analyzed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 45 registered lobbyists from across the spectrum of special interests were also on hand -- lobbyists who opened their wallets to buy meals, drinks and golf for the group.
Here’s a list of the public officials who attended and a partial accounting of lobbyists who reported spending money on St. Simons during the convention. (The convention overlapped with conventions by the Georgia Cable Association and the Georgia Retail Association.)
Politicians in attendance
*Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle
*House Speaker David Ralston
Agriculture Commissioner Gary Black
Sen. Steve Gooch, R-Dahlonega
Sen. Frank Ginn, R-Danielsville
Sen. Don Balfour, R-Snellville
Sen. Hardie Davis, D-Augusta
Sen. Judson Hill, R-Marietta
Sen. Rick Jeffares, R-McDonough
Sen. David Shafer, R-Duluth
Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon
Sen. Ross Tolleson, R-Perry
**Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus
Sen. Hunter Hill, R-Atlanta
Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur
Sen. Jack Murphy, R-Cumming
Sen. Burt Jones, R-Jackson
Rep. Ed Lindsey, R-Atlanta
Rep. Larry O’Neal, R-Bonaire
Rep. James Beverly, D-Macon
Rep. Amy Carter, R-Valdosta
Rep. Terry England, R-Auburn
Rep. Mike Glanton, D-Jonesboro
Rep. Mark Hamilton, R-Cumming
Rep. Ben Harbin, R-Evans
Rep. Jan Jones, R-Milton
Rep. Don Parsons, R-Marietta
Rep. Jay Powell, R-Camilla
Rep. Ron Stephens, Savannah
Rep. Mickey Channell, R-Greensboro
Rep. Jason Shaw, R-Lakeland
Rep. Wendell Willard, Sandy Springs
*paid his own way with campaign funds
**paid back conference expenses
The Lobbyists
Health care
Anna Adams, Georgia Hospital Association
Katherine Bell, Georgia Hospital Association
Nicholas Dejong, Peach State Health Plan
John Walraven, Georgia Association of Healthcare Underwriters
Karla Kiriako, Sanofi-Aventis
Rick Ivey, Archbold Medical Center
Sarah Ralston, Georgia Health Care Association
Julie Windom, Georgia Alliance of Community Hospitals
Clinton Austin, Pfizer, Independent Doctors of Georgia, Four Winds Health, Georgia Retail Federation
Wendi Clifton, W.L. Clifton Political Consulting (Georgia Nurses Association, Grady Health System, Georgia Trial Lawyers)
Communications/utilities
Patrick Muchmore, Sprint Telecommunications
Michael Wall, Comcast
Kevin Curtin, AT&T
Stephen Loftin, Georgia Cable Association
John D’Andrea, Georgia Power
Cities
Tom Gehl, Georgia Municipal Association
Ashley Meggitt, Georgia Municipal Association
Marcia Rubensohn, Georgia Municipal Association
Chambers of commerce
Jeffrey Hamling, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
David Raynor, Georgia Chamber of Commerce
Jeff Wansley, Metro Atlanta Chamber
General
Hunter Hopkins, W.L. Clifton Political Consulting (Georgia Petroleum Council)
Skin Edge, Georgialink Public Affairs (AGL Resources, Atlanta Braves, Comcast, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, CVS Caremark, T-Mobile, Total Wine, Georgia Hospital Association, UPS)
Boyd Pettit, Georgialink Public Affairs (AGL Resources, Atlanta Braves, Comcast, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, CVS Caremark, T-Mobile, Total Wine, Georgia Hospital Association, UPS)
Cynthia Garst, CPS Strategies (Chevron Corp., Acadia Health Care, Capgemini Government Solutions,
Teradata Corp.)
Rebecca Greener, Georgia Automobile Dealers Association
Meagan Hanson, American Institute of Architects Georgia
Joel Harrell, Norfolk Southern Corp.
Samantha Hill, Troutman Sanders Strategies (Delta Air Lines, General Electric Co., Verizon, Homebuilders Association of Georgia)
Jennings Hughes, Hughes Public Affairs (American Cancer Society, Gulfstream Aerospace, Weyerhauser)
Kyle Jackson, National Federation of Independent Business
Stephanie Kindregan, Delta Airlines
James McDonald, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough (Atlanta Community Food Bank, Georgia Justice Project, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan)
Mark Middleton, Mark M. Middleton (AT&T, AAA, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia, CSX Transportation, Education Management Corp., K-12 Corp.)
James Millican, C.W. Mathews Contracting Co., Kaiser Permanente, Veolia Transportation Services.
Righton Johnson, Balch & Bingham
Bo Moore, McKenna Long & Aldridge (Georgia Aquarium, Georgia Charter Schools, GTECH, Northside Hospital, Southwest Airlines)
Frank Morris, UPS
Kevin Perry, Georgia Beverage Association
Allen Richardson, Koch Companies Public Sector
Michael Shellnut, McGuire Woods Consulting (AT&T, Gulfstream Aerospace, MARTA, Teach for America)
Peyton Stanley, Capitol Policy Group (Correct Health)
Floyd Swann, Studentsfirst
William Usry, Usry Consulting (DirecTV, DishNet, Phoebe Putney Health System)
Meredith Weaver, Melvin Weaver Consulting (Verizon Wireless, Renovo Software, National Tobacco Co.)
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