Save Access

from: Miami Herald

THE LEGISLATURE
BellSouth rings up a $1 million bill for lobbying

The price tag for lobbying in the state Capitol is at least $26 million this year -- and could approach $70 million -- as BellSouth leads the way with a million-dollar effort.

BY MARC CAPUTO AND GARY FINEOUT
mcaputo@MiamiHerald.com

TALLAHASSEE --
In just three months, telecom giant BellSouth spent at least $1,020,110 -- an average of $11,460 daily -- to lobby state agencies and lawmakers, making it the biggest-spending firm in the Capitol, according to disclosure reports posted Wednesday.

The eyepopping amount the company spent in its drive to enter the cable TV market was a fraction of the minimum $26 million shelled out by an estimated 2,000 special interests that worked the Capitol this legislative session -- amounts that some veterans found surprising.

The reports -- which suggest the maximum amount could almost reach $70 million -- only cover the first three months of the year, and don't even include the final month of the 60-day legislative session that ended May 5. The reports were mandated last year by lawmakers who said they wanted to show the general range of the cost to access and influence government.

`BUYS . . . ANSWER'

''This number is about how ordinary people are priced out of the process. It buys you the right answer,'' said Sen. Alex Villalobos, a Miami Republican who unsuccessfully pushed for a bill this year that required lobbyists and lawmakers to swear to tell the truth when testifying in the Legislature.

While the so-far fruitless talks over cutting property taxes dominated the time and attention of lawmakers this session, legislators dealt with scores of lobbyists and their agendas to pass, or defeat, bills. They sought, among other objectives, to limit or increase the tax cuts, increase how much HMOs get paid by the state's Medicaid program, restrict the power of cities and counties to regulate the fireworks industry and allow dog tracks and horse tracks around the state to install slot machines.

BIGGEST FIGHT

The biggest special-interest food fight, though, raged between cable-television companies and BellSouth, which successfully fought to pass a bill through the Legislature that aims to make it easier for telephone companies to provide cable TV. The cable companies spent a maximum of about $350,000.

BellSouth spokesman Don Sadler said the money BellSouth spent was a cost of doing business.

''We felt it was important to communicate our message and to let them know about the benefits of statewide video competition and choice,'' Sadler said. ``We hope the governor will agree and sign the bill and bring competition to Floridians.''

Gov. Charlie Crist hasn't said whether he'll veto the bill, sign it or allow it to become law without his signature by a Friday deadline. A critic of the phone companies, Crist has fashioned himself as the ''people's governor'' and frequently tells Floridians, ``I'm your lobbyist.''

Crist said he has been surprised by how hard he has been lobbied on some issues.

LOBBYIST'S VIEW

Veteran lobbyist Ron Book, who represents BellSouth as well as scores of local governments and private clients, said the amount spent lobbying legislators was high. But it wasn't unexpected, he said, because the $72 billion budget was tight and everyone was scrounging for money. Some, though, had an easier ride, such as Book's client, the University of Miami, which won an $80 million state grant for biomedical genome research.

But local governments, which spent at least $1.83 million lobbying, had a tough time asking for money on one hand and trying to prevent steep tax cuts. Lawmakers ended the session without a property-tax cut, but plan to come back June 12-22 to try again, and Book is predicting bad news for local governments.

''It creates a greater opportunity for the public to get, if you will, more worked up for a higher level of tax relief than otherwise. It sets the bar higher up,'' he said.

LEGACY

The move to force lobbyist disclosures was the legacy of former Senate President Tom Lee, who supported ending freebies for legislators as well. Under disclosure rules, lobbyists must list their clients and report the sums they earn every three months. They must disclose the ranges of how much they're paid over all and how much each client pays them.

But a few firms don't draw a distinction between lobbying the executive and legislative branches. As a result, the numbers can vary widely, and could indicate that a maximum $69 million was spent this year -- a number that includes some double counting. So BellSouth, which recently merged with AT&T, reported it paid somewhere between $1 million and $1.3 million on lobbying.

Either way, Sen. Villalobos said it's too much.

''From a company that nickels and dimes their customers,'' he said, ``it's amazing they spend that much money to get the Legislature to allow them to make more money.''