By Dan Carden, Times of Northwest Indiana
dan.carden@nwi.com
INDIANAPOLIS | You never vote for them, but they might actually represent you and your interests in the General Assembly better than your elected representative. Or, maybe just the reverse.
They are lobbyists.
The mythical perception of lobbyists has them passing out cigars in an expensive restaurant while wining and dining an innocent state lawmaker into doing the lobbyists' bidding.
In fact, you're more likely to find a lobbyist in a crowded committee room explaining the real-world effects of a legislative proposal to a panel of representatives. Or, you're likely to see a lobbyist waiting in a lonely hallway for hours just to get a few minutes to walk beside a busy senator and make a pitch.
Lobbyists are an essential part of the legislative process, said Dewey Pearman, a lobbyist for the Portage-based Construction Advancement Foundation, an interest group representing contractors.
"As a practical matter, we can't expect all 150 members of the Indiana General Assembly and members of the executive branch to be experts on all subjects," Pearman said.
"When they're considering an issue that affects contractors, we hope to find that they want to hear from those who will be affected. It's my job as a lobbyist on behalf of the industry to bring that information forward and bring that perspective forward."
There are hundreds of registered lobbyists in Indiana, representing every conceivable interest, including many from Northwest Indiana. The city of Hammond has a lobbyist and the Lake County Solid Waste Management District has a lobbyist.
Any person or group who wants to influence the General Assembly, even if it's only to tell their story, must register as a lobbyist if they spend more than $500 a year, including their own salary.
There are two kinds of lobbyists. Some businesses and groups employ a lobbyist directly as an in-house employee, such as Pearman.
Other lobbyists work for law firms or independent lobbying firms. Interest groups that don't need their own full-time lobbyist hire a firm and share lobbying staff with other groups.
For example, Jill Ritchie, a Chesterton resident, represents U.S. Steel before both the Indiana and Michigan state legislatures.
In contrast, Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller LLC is the lobbyist for the city of Crown Point. But Ice Miller doesn't just represent Crown Point. The firm also represents, among others, NIPSCO, General Motors, the American Institute of Architects, IBM and Ultimate Fighting Championship.
Bob Kuzman, a former Crown Point resident who represented portions of Lake County in the state assembly, is now employed by Ice Miller and has worked as a lobbyist.
House Speaker Patrick Bauer, D-South Bend, has proposed changing what lobbyists can do, who they can represent and who can become a lobbyist.
Bauer wants lawmakers to have to report any gift from a lobbyist that's worth more than $50. The current reporting requirement is $100.
He also wants to keep former legislators and executive-branch officials from becoming lobbyists for one year after leaving office. Bauer also would bar lobbying firms from representing conflicting clients at the same time, such as a casino and an anti-gambling group.
"These proposals are aimed at providing clarity to the day-to-day activities of state lawmakers and ensure there is a necessary break to prevent any state elected official from using a former office to gain unfair advantages over others," Bauer told reporters in October.
Back in his Portage office, Pearman said he sees "no downside" to more information getting out about who's lobbying and how they're doing it.
"There needs to be transparency in government, and there needs to be transparency for those who are trying to influence the decisions of government," he said.