In Georgia, there’s no limit on the value of gifts lobbyists may give to state officials — things such as meals, trips, sports outings. Lobbyists are required to disclose all such gifts publicly, and a lot of that gift-giving happens during the first three months of the year (the legislative session). Here are some of the most notable disclosures of the 2012 session.
Tops in tickets
At night, lawmakers are looking for something to do in Atlanta. Lobbyists oblige with tickets.
In all, lobbyists claimed $17,418 in event tickets given to public officials.
Rep. Rahn Mayo, D-Decatur, topped the list for a single legislator with $500 in Atlanta Hawks tickets. In an email to the AJC Friday, Mayo said he was given four tickets to a game between the Hawks and the Washington Wizards. “I’m surprised to learn that the value was $500 for tickets to a game with little fanfare, but I certainly understand the concerns of advocates who support a cap on gifts to legislators,” he wrote.
Mayo narrowly beat Rep. Carl Rogers, R-Gainesville, who took three luxury box tickets to the Atlanta Falcons’ New Year’s Day game against Tampa Bay. Cost: $492.
Best fed
House Ways and Means Chairman Mickey Channell takes the prize for his bill of $4,366 in lobbyist meals.
Lobbyists disclosed 83 separate expenditures on Channell, R-Greensboro, ranging from a $7 lunch with contract lobbyist Joy Walstrum to a $241 dinner paid for by the lobbyist for the Georgia Hospital Association.
Channell took his wife to at least 16 dinners with lobbyists, the records show. Representatives of the hospital association and Georgia Power both reported treating Channell and his wife to dinner on Valentine’s Day — one reported spending $123, the other $113.
Most expensive dinner
Nothing says “I appreciate your service” like a pricey dinner, and lobbyists at the Capitol are among the most appreciative people in town.
In the doubles category, the nod for most expensive dinner goes to Rep. Donna Sheldon, R-Dacula, and her husband, Bob. On March 22, the Sheldons were treated to a $382 dinner by the lobbyist for the Metro Atlanta Chamber — a tab sufficient to feed a family of four for two weeks, according to U.S. Department of Agriculture figures.
It was a three-way tie in the singles bracket with Reps. Darlene Taylor, R-Thomasville; Quincy Murphy, D-Augusta; and Steve Davis, R-McDonough, each racking up a $245 tab at a Feb. 2 House Insurance Committee dinner. A lobbyist for insurance giant Humana paid the bill.
Deepest pockets: Mass feedings
Sponsors of the session’s mega-receptions always win the “most spent” award, and they usually are led by Hugh Tollison, lobbyist for the Savannah Chamber of Commerce. The chamber hosts an annual seafood dinner for the General Assembly that racked up an $88,000 bill this session — about 10 percent of the total spent by the entire lobbying corps. Tollison reported spending little else during the rest of the session.
Tollison’s next competitor is the lobbyist for law firm Hall Booth Smith and Slover, who spent $28,295 again almost exclusively on a large reception. In this case, it was the firm’s annual “pig roast.”
Deepest pockets: Single feedings
Excluding those with a single large expense, Terry Hobbs, lobbyist for natural gas company SCANA, racked up the grandest total during the session, spending $12,811.89 over three months, according to records. Much of that came in private dinners, but Hobbs’ generosity found other expressions, too.
He reported spending more than $1,500 on coffee service for the entire General Assembly and $3,000 stocking “hospitality” rooms at the downtown Sheraton and the Landmark Apartments building, both near the Capitol. The hospitality rooms traditionally are suites with open bars and snacks available to legislators and their guests.
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