Maine news, sports, weather from Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram, Portland, Maine

July 6, 2012

28 groups financed events for legislators

The meals, entertainment and lodging gave them a chance to talk lawmaking or make an impression.

By Steve Mistler smistler@pressherald.com
Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — The $56,876 that interest groups spent on events for state lawmakers during the last legislative session may not seem like much relative to the $7.5 million that organizations paid lobbyists to influence policymaking.

Nonetheless, a review of event spending from January 2011 to May 2012 shows that 28 organizations entertained, fed or rented hotel rooms for legislators and state officials to create favorable impressions and advance lawmaking.

Some of the events were big-tent affairs, such as a $5,000 bus tour for legislators put together by the Maine Credit Union League. Others, such as the National Rifle Association's trap shoot with House Majority Whip Andre Cushing, R-Hampden, on Aug. 6, 2011, targeted individual lawmakers.

The totals for event spending are significantly less than those presented with one of MaineToday Media's stories last Sunday about lobbying at the State House. Incorrect figures were provided by the Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices, which in some instances multiplied the cost of an event by the number of lawmakers who attended.

The Maine Credit Union League spent $8,128 on three events, the most of any organization. Two "Credit Union Day" events were held in the State House Hall of Flags, as the organization paid for food and beverages while its representatives discussed legislation with lawmakers.

The group's biggest expense was this year's bus tour of businesses such as Fairchild Semiconductor, Brunswick Landing and the Sanford wastewater treatment plant. Thirty-nine lawmakers, from both parties, participated.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce, which lobbies dozens of bills each session, spent $7,579, ranking second in spending. Thirty-four lawmakers, most of them members of legislative leadership or committee chairs, attended two leadership summits and the chamber's 2011 annual dinner. Gov. Paul LePage's legislative liaison also attended the dinner.

Northeast Delta Dental was third on the list, spending $6,614 on one event held this year. Thirty-eight lawmakers attended.

The American Heart Association spent $3,320 and was fourth in spending. The group held five events, including one at the State House to raise stroke awareness.

New England Cable and Telecom Associates spent $2,835, most of which paid for hotel rooms and meals for lawmakers who attended the organization's July 2011 membership convention.

Two of the lawmakers, Rep. Stacey Fitts, R-Pittsfield, and Sen. Chris Rector, R-Thomaston, were members of the Legislature's Energy, Utilities and Technology Committee. New England Cable and Telecom Associates paid over $420 and $450, respectively, for the lawmakers' hotel and meals.

The group also paid for rooms and meals for Sen. Richard Rosen, R-Bucksport, co-chairman of the Legislature's budget-writing committee.

The group lobbied several bills during the session, including one to create a new regulatory structure for the telephone industry and another that would have temporarily increased the monthly surcharge for E-911 services.

Both bills went through the energy committee, while a bill to exempt the rental of cable or satellite television equipment from the state's retail tax went through the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative advocacy group, was sixth in spending for events. The money was directed to two events in 2011.

About 20 lawmakers attended a dinner in February 2011 that focused on public pension reforms, several of which were passed by the Legislature.

A dinner in March 2011 was a discussion among the group's officials about welfare policy changes. Many of those changes were enacted this year through budget reductions to the state's Medicaid program.

(Continued on page 2)

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