If you believe the media stories the last few years, most of the ills of the country were apparently caused by lobbyists. These lobbyists have allegedly bought all of the politicians. We hear that the average American has no one to represent their interests. Is this an accurate assessment of the system or simply a recurring theme that provides an easy way to point a finger of blame.

 

     Obviously, the popular position is to join the lobbyist-bashing bandwagon. However, like a salmon swimming upstream, I would like to introduce the possibility that lobbyists are an important part of the system. In the interest of full disclosure, I should share some of my background. While I have never been a registered lobbyist, I did work for two years at a respected government relations firm in Washington, D.C. I also worked for two members of Congress. So, I have seen how the system works from both sides. In addition, this firm has a relationship with the Government Relations Group of Oklahoma and one of our of counsel, Matt Hopkins, is the principal lobbyist. Thus, I know something of which I speak.

 

     More than ten thousand bills can be introduced in a single year in the United States Congress. As of June 30, 5,561 bills have already been introduced in calendar year 2009. 2009 Congressional Resume It should go without saying that no Member of Congress reads all, or even a high percentage, of these bills, some of which can be thousands of pages long. As a former Congressional staffer, I can tell you we read many, but far from all. We tended to focus on areas of interest to our particular Member of Congress, especially those assigned to committees the Member served on. 

 

     Regardless, Members cast thousands of votes throughout the year. Many of these votes are on important issues. Members receive information from many sources about issues and legislation intended to address them. In addition to staff, committee hearings and floor debates, Members and staff also receive information from lobbyists. Here are a few reasons why that is not necessarily a bad thing:

 

          1.         Lobbyists are well informed.

          Lobbyists are hired to focus on narrow issues and areas of concern. They become experts on these issues and areas. They are able to provide information in a compressed and cogent fashion. Without this information, it is more difficult for legislators to get information on the vast array of issues on which they will be expected to vote.

 

          2.         Nearly everyone has a lobbyist.

          I mentioned in the first paragraph that we often hear that the average American has no one to lobby for them. That is simply not true. Everyone who is in a union has a lobbyist. Teachers have lobbyists. The elderly have lobbyists. Grocers have them too. In fact, with most issues, both sides have lobbyists. Doctors and insurance companies lobby for tort reform while trial lawyers and others lobby against it. Oil companies lobby for relaxation of environmental standards while environmental groups lobby to tighten them. Retail stores lobby for wine in grocery stores, while liquor stores lobby against it. When one side of an issue loses in the legislature, it is rarely because they did not have a lobbyist engaged on their behalf. 

 

          3.         Lobbyists help provide institutional memory.

            This factor has become more pronounced in governments, like the Oklahoma Legislature, where term limits are in effect. Once, legislators themselves could devote decades to becoming experts in certain areas. Those legislators provided institutional memory of those issues. With term limits, it is much more difficult for legislators to do so. Lobbyists help preserve those institutional memories as the legislators quickly move in and out of office.

 

          4.         Lobbyists get the same number of votes as you  and I.

            Every politician is more concerned about getting reelected than almost anything else. Most people who raise money for campaigns are not lobbyists. Barack Obama raised more money than any Presidential candidate in history, largely from small donors. Nearly everyone who votes is not a lobbyist. If a representative puts the needs of lobbyists above those of his constituents, it is our responsibility as the electorate to see he finds a new line of work. 

 

          5.         Most lobbyists are professionals.

            As a lawyer, I am keenly aware of being in a profession where the profession gets tarred by the worst of us. Lawyers with silly ads on television or who have had legal trouble tend to be more well known than the 99% of us who just do our job. I have a great primary care physician, but he is not as well known as Dr. Kevorkian and has not gotten the recent press of Michael Jackson’s dermatologist. The same is true of lobbyists. Everyone knows Jack Abramoff and therefore lobbyists get associated with him. However, most lobbyists are simply doing their jobs and providing information on behalf of the group interested in particular pieces of legislation.

 

          6.         Lobbyists are highly regulated.

            Lobbyists are required to register and file reports. They must follow a detailed (and sometimes ridiculous) set of rules and limits. Both they and the legislators with whom they interact are subject to prosecution for violating these rules. In fact, a recent article in the Daily Oklahoman discusses the effect of the last Oklahoma lobbying statute which lowered to $100 from $300 the amount a lobbyists employer could spend on a legislator in a year. The article notes that the highest recipient of lobbyist dollars received only $976 in gifts in the last session. Second place was $730.   

 

     Like any profession, there are good lobbyists and bad ones, ethical ones and unethical ones. However, lobbyists remain an important part of the system. The answer lies not in eliminating lobbyists, but being vigilant as to the priorities of our elected officials. Let us throw the bums out, rather than throw out the baby with the lobbyist bathwater. It is our duty to make sure that we elect representatives who will represent the interests of his or her constituents, regardless of where he or she obtains information. It is our duty to elect representatives who are ethical and educated and who make informed decisions about the issues that affect us. At the end of the day, we should not abdicate those duties by the expediency of blaming those who bring a point of view to the table, but ultimately have no authority to impose it.