Spending on lobbyists is down, but still a lot 

Posted: 8:34 pm Thu, June 24, 2010
By Nicholas Sohr
Daily Record Business Writer

They still took home eye-popping sums at the end of the 2010 legislative session, but Maryland’s top-tier lobbyists saw their earnings ebb this year as economic concerns weighed on their clients and the legislators they are hired to influence.

The Maryland Jockey Club spent the most on lobbying — $345,000 — from Nov. 1 to April 30, according to reports filed with the State Ethics Commission. The horse racing organization was trailed by the Maryland Hospital Association, with $327,000, and Pepco Holdings Inc., which spent $323,600.

In the cycle that covered the 2009 session, Constellation Energy Group Inc. captured the top spot, shelling out nearly $681,000. The Jockey Club followed with $660,000 and the Maryland Association of Realtors Inc. finished a distant third, tallying $405,000 in lobbying expenditures.

“I think it’s clearly an economy situation,” said lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano. “I can only talk about my own experience, but I have clients who have renegotiated fee arrangements or cut down on expenses, cut them down or reduced them entirely.”

Bereano has lobbied state legislators since 1979 and was the first Maryland lobbyist to top $1 million in annual earnings, a feat he accomplished more than 20 years ago. This year, Bereano earned $443,000, down $64,000 from last year.

Lobbyists like Bereano have a smaller pool of customers to compete for, a trend that he said has continued over the past three years.

Only 134 companies and organizations spent more than $50,000 on lobbying in 2010, compared to 238 in 2009.

In 2010, the 25 biggest spenders paid lobbyists a combined $5.5 million. In 2009, they spent $8.1 million.

“Everybody is tightening their belts,” said Gerard E. Evans, the second-highest earner this year. “Government relations is one of the first things that’s on the chopping block. But I’ve been fortunate. I’m very happy where I am.”

Evans, who is licensed to lobby for 34 clients including the Baltimore Orioles and the law firm of team owner Peter Angelos, reported $741,500 in earnings, compared with $797,500 last year.

Joel D. Rozner, a partner at Rifkin, Livingston, Levitan & Silver, LLC, was the top earner in 2010, reporting earnings of nearly $873,500. Lisa Harris Jones, of Harris Jones & Malone LLC, whose clients include The Daily Record, rounded out the top three with $703,500.

The Jockey Club has been engaged in a costly campaign to bring slot machines to the Laurel Park horse racing track. The Daily Record reported in April that the club had spent nearly $660,000 on a petition to overturn plans for a casino near the Arundel Mills shopping mall.

Developer David Cordish and the club both bid on the county’s one gaming license, but when the club’s parent company failed to submit a $28.5 million license fee, the state gave the nod to Cordish’s mall-side plan.

Repeated requests Thursday for comment from Jockey Club President Tom Chuckas were not returned.

The Cloverleaf Standardbred Owners Association, which owns the Rosecroft Raceway through a subsidiary, spent $51,100 on lobbying. Prince George’s County legislators waged repeated battles in the General Assembly to allow poker tables at the beleaguered track, which has announced plans to close July 1, but were unsuccessful.

Two gaming companies spent at least $50,000 on lobbying — Penn National Gaming Inc., owner of the casino being built in Cecil County, and slot machine manufacturer Scientific Games International.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce, with a handful of staff lobbyists and hired guns, spent nearly $190,000 from November through April, good enough for 16th on the list of big spenders and an increase of $30,000 and 20 spots over last year.

The reason, President and CEO Kathleen T. Snyder said, was a set of proposed unemployment insurance changes that occupied business groups and some legislators for much of the session.

“Every year we follow the issues and the unemployment insurance issue was huge for us this year,” Snyder said. “It was almost a five-month, very intense effort on behalf of our lobbying team.”