By Eric Bradner, Evansville Courier & Press
INDIANAPOLIS - When the Indiana General Assembly is in session, the third-floor halls of the Statehouse are lined shoulder-to-shoulder with lobbyists.
Through large windows, they closely watch the action on the floor of the House and Senate. Legislators walking by often linger to talk with them.
The lobbyists' job is to convince members of the Indiana General Assembly to act in ways that benefit the clients they represent.
Although lawmakers disagree over what needs to be done, most agree that it's time to do something to boost Hoosiers' confidence they are not being improperly swayed by those who can afford the most access.
Breaking close ties
House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has said he will push legislation that would break up the sometimes-cozy relationship between lawmaker and lobbyist. Republican leaders in the Senate say they will do the same.
"As I look back on the final days of the 2009 session in April, it was apparent the level of pressure exerted by special interests put a cloud over the Legislature's ability to respond to the concerns of Hoosiers," Bauer wrote recently in an op-ed piece for the state's newspapers.
During the 2009 session, special interests spent more than $25 million lobbying lawmakers, according to reports filed with the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission.
The top spender was Anderson-based Hoosier Park and its parent company, Centaur, which spent $571,000 while asking for tax breaks.
They didn't receive those tax breaks, but gambling-related issues did play a role in stalling progress toward a budget and sending lawmakers into an overtime session.
Republicans point out that if Bauer is concerned about the appearance of impropriety, he should first look at the gifts he accepted.
Bauer, the top Democrat in a chamber the party controls by a narrow 52-48 margin, accepted $5,223 in gifts - the most of any legislator. Among the gifts was a trip to the inauguration of President Barack Obama.
"What they get when they spend all this money is access," said Brian Posler, a political science professor at the University of Southern Indiana. "That's the key, because they get a chance to press their case, a chance to have their evidence be heard."
Only gifts worth more than $100 must be reported. If Posler's explanation holds true, that means meals - the time lobbyists get, perhaps, the most access to legislators - go unreported.
Free food is a perk of being elected to the General Assembly. Some lawmakers admit eating every meal on lobbyists' dimes while in session. It's not uncommon to see lobbyists and legislators dining together at the private clubs and steakhouses of Indianapolis.
Making loopholes
Those meals rarely cost more than $100, and when they do, lobbyists often pool together to pay so the cost can be divided and therefore ring in at less than the $100 threshold.
The most effective lobbyists often are former legislators themselves. For example, former state Rep. Bob Kuzman, a Democrat from northwestern Indiana, left his post as vice chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in June 2007 to take a job with Ice Miller, an Indianapolis law firm.
Kuzman, who backed legislation to allow casino-style gambling at horse tracks in Anderson and Shelbyville, now is employed by a firm that lobbied for that legislation.
Another well-known Ice Miller lobbyist is Luke Messer, a former state representative and former head of the Indiana Republican Party who currently is running for the U.S. House in Indiana's 5th District.
Ice Miller earned $1.3 million in legal and consulting work on Major Moves, an initiative that leased a northern Indiana toll road to provide money to fund other transportation projects.
Messer, who helped push Major Moves through the House took a lobbying job in April 2006, just a month after Major Moves won passage.
"Special interest groups tend to have a disproportionate influence over state government in Indiana - not just the Legislature, but the executive branch," said Rep. Dennis Avery, an Evansville Democrat who has introduced ethics reform bills before.
Bauer himself authored a bill that is up for a hearing Wednesday before the House Rules and Legislative Procedures Committee. The bill would aim to break the close ties between legislators and lobbyists and would include change for the governor's office.
Bauer's ideas
Here's a look at some of House Bill 1001's provisions:
In an effort to close the "revolving door" of lawmakers leaving the Legislature to take lobbying jobs, a one-year waiting period would be required before a former member of the General Assembly could join the lobbying ranks.
It would reduce from $100 to $50 the minimum value for gift reporting.
Lobbyists would not be allowed to represent clients who have conflicts of interest.
To prevent "pay-to-play" appearances, companies that have contracts with the state or bid on state contracts would not be allowed to make political contributions to those who hold or are seeking state office.
Since lawmakers cannot solicit campaign contributions during biennial "long sessions" of the General Assembly, committees representing the governor or any candidate for governor would be forbidden from doing so, as well.
Gov. Mitch Daniels, a Republican, applauded Bauer for introducing the legislation, saying he is "glad to see them moving on this front."
Senate President Pro Tem David Long, R-Fort Wayne, also signaled that he agrees the time has come for ethics reform. He said Senate Republicans will push their own package.
But others say it's not enough.
Twenty-three Indiana newspapers - a group that employs a lobbyist through the Hoosier State Press Association - have pushed a series of reforms that would achieve similar goals to those Bauer says he intends to reach.
But the newspaper-backed changes are more stringent. They would require lobbyists to report all gifts, and would prohibit legislators from accepting any gifts worth more than $50.
Rep. Trent Van Haaften, D-Mount Vernon, accepted the second largest total of largesse of the Legislature's 150 members. Gifts he received totaled $4,335, mostly from AT&T - a company that backed legislation Van Haaften offered.
Van Haaften supports Bauer's initiative, but said a key in his mind is beefing up the Indiana Lobby Registration Commission. The agency is woefully understaffed, he notes, and has little ability to hold those who file inaccurate reports accountable.
Lobbyists currently must file reports each April, which means that a gift accepted in May 2009 might not be reported until April 2010. Van Haaften also said lobbyists should have to file reports within 72 hours of the gift. He said the public should be able to view those gifts in a database.
Rep. Suzanne Crouch, R-Evansville, said it's important that Hoosiers feel confident their legislators are not being overtaken by the perks of the job.
"We deal with perception," she said, "and anything that would cause the public to perceive (impropriety) needs to be addressed and changed."