Tuesday, July 25, 2006

Lobbyists Everywhere (Cook Co. Edition)

Cross-posted from ICPR's blog, The Race is On:

Who’s the biggest lobbyist in Illinois? Many of us could guess, but there’s no way of knowing exactly. Illinois does not require lobbyists to disclose their billings, nor what actions they take on behalf of their clients. But some parts of Illinois do, and those can be interesting.

Cook County, for instance, requires disclosure of billings by lobbyists. The top lobbyists in Cook County are probably familiar to statehouse denizens: Michael Kasper and Courtney Nottage report the highest lobbyist billing in Cook County. But those figures reflect only billing for lobbing in Cook, not statehouse work, or other levels of government.

Today’s Trib reports on these numbers, courtesy of Cook County Clerk David Orr. It’s past time for Illinois to consider this kind of reporting for state lobbyists. And a measure like HB 5765 would be a good place to start.

4 comments:

Yellow Dog Democrat 5:06 PM  

Sure. Let's make the staff salaries for ICPR public information too, so contract p.r. and government relations firms can come in and bid for their jobs.

I'm a strong supporter of campaign finance laws, but making lobbying contracts public information will only encourage contract poaching and unscrupulous shakedowns by folks who are thinking: "I know exactly how much this vote is worth to Mike Kasper." Crunching those numbers may justify someone's salary over at the ICPR, but the ensuing press release will only garner a one-day "Gotchya" headline that will be forgotten by voters long before election day.

Anonymous,  6:03 PM  

If you must know, ICPR is required to report the salaries of its five highest paid employees over $50,000 to the IRS, along with a lot of other financial information, and is required to provide a copy of that information (in something called a Form 990) to anyone who requests it.

I don't think protecting the fees of lobbyists against competition is a valid objection to making lobbyist billing information public. Lobbyists are "hired guns," and their presence often tilts the playing field to the advantage of moneyed interests.

The point about a legislator/public official shaking down a lobbyist (for a campaign contribution or direct payment) is a more legitimate concern; however, it's already illegal for a public official to demand payment (or even a campaign contribution) for a vote. If a public official is corrupt, he'll be corrupt whether or not lobbyist billings are disclosed.

On the other hand, the fresh air that comes from knowing who is behind what policy initiative -- and how much the interest is willing to pay -- is a good thing.

Anonymous,  8:07 PM  

Mike Kasper had the Seqouia contract that did not give a fair election. Mike Kasper is known for knocking candidates off the ballots and denying ballot access. For some reason Madigan likes him and that is how he makes his money. Mike Kasper is also the attorney for "co-schemer A" Victor "the Hog" Reyes and his cohorts in HDO of drug dealers and gang bangers.

Democracy is important we shouldn't destroy it so Mike Kasper, or anyone can make money.
Lou Dobbes and USA Today reported (CNN) that the Department of Treasury is investigating the company that Kasper lobbied for that is foreign owned running our elections and there are law suits in 4 other states.
If Toddler Stroger and his corruption wins we all know the elections are fixed.

Anonymous,  8:08 PM  
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