Lobbyist giving takes another plunge

“That’s a beginning. We still have things that need to be changed,” she said. “There are always going to be things that can be improved on, but we’re delighted.”

In all, lobbyists reported spending $306,377 in the third quarter of 2011. This most recent quarter clocked in at $99,317, according to records retrieved from the state ethics commission.

The decline continues a trend of lower spending begun in February 2012 when advocates began pushing hard for reforms.

Some of the change can be attributed to fewer individual gifts – those dinners and Braves games prized by lobbyists as a rare opportunity to get alone time with a powerful politician. More prominent now are group expenditures in which lobbyists host an entire committee or delegation at an event.

In September, lobbyists representing several environmental groups, among others, spent about $3,000 on ferrying members of the House Natural Resource Committee to land preservation sites in coastal Georgia. The event, although largely funded by lobbyists, was organized by Committee Chairwoman Lynn Smith, R-Newnan, who said she wanted her committee to be better educated on the topic before the Legislature reconvenes in January.

“Legislators on my committee are trying to understand the role of state government on conservation projects,” Smith said. “I wanted folks to see that a lot of our conservation efforts are the result of several good strong reputable organizations working in conjunction with state government.”

Smith said 16 of her committee’s two dozen members attended at least part of the tour, which included visits to St. Simons Island and the Townsend Bombing Range, a military outpost that has its own land management plan.

A coalition of environmental groups have organized under the name Georgia Legacy to push for a stable source of state funding for land preservation. Senate Bill 210, which would create a framework to fund such projects, passed the Senate earlier this year and awaits action in Smith’s committee.

Jill Johnson, a lobbyist who works for the coalition, said the trip was educational.

“It’s much easier to talk about land conservation out on the land that is being protected rather than in an office building,” she said.

The outing did include a “casual low-country boil” for lawmakers the night before the tour, she said. The reported cost of the dinner was $1,328.

Smith said lawmakers did arrange their own accommodations and can apply for a per diem reimbursement — $173 per day — from the state because the trip was official committee business.

One committee member — House Ethics Chairman Joe Wilkinson, R-Sandy Springs — said he plans to reimburse the groups for his portion of the trip.

“They are nonprofits. I always reimburse nonprofits,” he said.

Wilkinson has been critical of the push for caps on lobbying spending, saying that timely disclosure of gifts prevents abuse. However, he said there are positives from the recent attention placed on the issue.

“We work for the people of the state of Georgia. They are our bosses,” he said. “That’s something that has been re-emphasized during this time period.”

Some of the decline in lobbying spending appears to be the result of fewer individual gifts — the steak dinners or Braves tickets that have traditionally been the coin of the realm under the Gold Dome.

There were 281 individual gifts records in September, a 22 percent decline from the time period last year. On average, those gifts cost about $44, compared to $50 in 2012.

While those expenditures are on the decline, committee dinners and larger receptions are now a larger part of the smaller pie. In September, lobbyists disclosed 43 group gifts, compared with 22 last year.

But even those events appear to be less ostentatious.

The Outdoor Advertising Association of Georgia spent just under $2,500 hosting seven lawmakers at its annual convention. Last year, the association reported spending almost $9,000 on lawmakers for the same event.

Advocates are encouraged but have their sights set on even more restrictions.

“The ultimate end would be to outlaw lobbyist gifts. There are some states where that has happened,” said Wyc Orr, a former state lawmaker and a board member of Common Cause Georgia. “This is clearly moving us in the direction we need to move. It defies reality for anyone to think that money, meals, gifts, etc. … do not change relationships. It’s simply denying human nature.”

Orr said lobbyists play a “critically important” role in government by communicating to lawmakers the effects of proposed laws on business. But, he said, “That communication process can take place without them being greased by these kind of gifts.”

Reforms passed this year by the Legislature capping lobbyist expenditures at $75 per gift will take effect Jan. 1. It will be the first time lobbyist gifts have been restrained by law, although the cap contains a number of exceptions for common expenditures like committee dinners and travel.

Last January, the Senate passed a rule capping gifts for its members at $100. Most senators have found it easy to live within the restriction — the median value of more than 11,500 reported gifts in 2012 was $29.42.

Still, there have been occasional problems. Last month a lobbyist for Georgia Power reported giving Sen. Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, four Braves tickets worth $160.

Butler said she had never heard of the lobbyist and that she had received the tickets from a friend at Georgia Power she has known since before she was elected.

“We were supposed to go to the game together but she had to go out of town and I got all the tickets,” she said. “We are really good friends. We do a lot of things together.”

Butler said she would look into the violation and correct it. The rule gives senators a grace period to refund gifts that exceed the $100 cap.