Political Scene: R.I.’s top lobbyists earned $7M this past session

Beneath the din of abortion and gun rights demonstrations, it was easy to miss the fight for influence between rival hospital systems going on at the Rhode Island State House this year or the tug-of-war over gambling profits heating up behind closed doors.

But Rhode Island's top lobbyists noticed. They made around $7 million during this past legislative session advocating on those and scores of other issues, according to a Political Scene analysis of lobbying reports filed with the Secretary of State's office.

Hospital system Lifespan spent $258,036 in the first half of the year, which corresponds with the regular legislative session. Rival Care New England, which was locked in separate and ultimately failed merger talks with Lifespan and Massachusetts giant Partners HealthCare for months, spent $132,000 over the same period.

Throw in $31,666 from CharterCare Health Partners, $30,000 from Prime Healthcare Services plus $31,685 from the Hospital Association of Rhode Island, and the hospital sector was one of the most lucrative in lobbying terms.

By the end of the year, however, the hospital companies could easily be surpassed in lobbying spending by gambling companies International Game Technology and Twin River, whose fight over the state lottery contact has turned into an off-season full employment program for local lobby shops.

Through June 30, IGT spent $132,000 on lobbying and Twin River $138,500. IGT has since doubled its lobbying stable to an even dozen while Twin River is one short at 11 lobbyists. WPRI calculates that, at the current pace, the two companies will spend three-quarters of a million dollars by the end of the year.

The top earners among the IGT/Twin River were former Senate GOP leader Robert Goldberg ($45,000 from IGT) and former IGT Chairman and current Democratic Governors Association treasurer Donald Sweitzer ($37,500 from IGT). The state Ethics Commission is investigating a Republican complaint against Gov. Gina Raimondo, who is DGA chair, arguing that her relationship with Sweitzer creates a conflict of interest.

The lobbyists with highest billings over the first half of the year won't surprise fellow Smith Hill insiders.

Former Senate GOP leader Goldberg made $389,833 in the first half of the year, the highest total among lobbyists reporting as individuals. He booked $70,000 from Lifespan.

But many of the top lobbyists report as part of a firm, such as former House Speaker William Murphy, who is the sole lobbyist registered with Dome Consultants, which made $388,999 during the session from clients including Twin River, Vineyard Wind and Deloitte.

The top grossing lobbying firm this session is Government Strategies Inc., which made $549,500 through the end of June from clients including IGT, Fidelity, the Motion Picture Association of America (which saw an expansion of the state film tax credit program), Summit Compassion Center and the Rhode Island Golf Association. (Full disclosure: Government Strategies also represents the Rhode Island Daily Newspaper Association, whose members include The Providence Journal.) Government Strategies is made up of Gayle Wolf, former Warwick Mayor Joe Walsh and William Walsh. Wolf also reported $12,500 for independently lobbying for Beacon Mutual Insurance.

Second on the list is F/S Capitol Consulting -- Margaret Hogan Sweeney, Carolyn Murray and Thomas Papa -- which made $400,308 during the legislative session without anything from either IGT or Twin River. F/S's clients include the National Shooting Sports Foundation, eBay and Feld Entertainment, the owner of what was Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Rounding out the top five in earnings was Frank McMahon's Advocacy Solutions ($354,835).

Note: All of these figures represent what lobbyists and interest groups have reported so far, and in some cases lobbyists receive annual payments that aren't reported until the following year.

Nick Domings, spokesman for Secretary of State Nellie Gorbea, said this year 259 reporting infractions (such as late reports) have been identified so far, suggesting some amount of noise in the spending figures.

Abortion

Considering the extent to which the issue dominated the headlines this spring, the fight over abortion generated relatively little lobbyist spending, about $20,000 last session, as many advocates and operatives worked on the issue pro bono.

Planned Parenthood of Southern New England paid Craig O'Connor, Erich Haslehurst and Kavelle Christie $14,040 total to back the abortion rights bill that passed in June.

Rhode Island Right to Life paid Barth Bracy $3,600 and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Providence paid the Rev. Bernard Healey $2,628 to fight the bill.

Several other groups have registered lobbyists on the topic, but not reported any spending.

Guns

Like abortion, gun control has roiled the State House in recent years, but reported lobbyist spending has been moderate.

Pro-gun control group Everytown for Gun Safety has spent $53,435 on a roster of six lobbyists or firms.

On the other side, the National Shooting Sports Foundation paid F/S Capitol Consulting $28,000 and the National Rifle Association paid Darin Goens $5,576 so far this year.

More gun-related spending is likely to appear when Murphy's annual payment from the Second Amendment Coalition comes in. He received $15,000 from the group the day before Christmas last year and estimates a similar $15,000 annual payment again this year that is not reflected yet in the actual spending totals.

On the other side, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Gun Violence paid $9,658 to both former state representative Linda Finn and Providence City Council member Kat Kerwin out of an estimated $12,000 annual payment to each this year.

Cannabis

Medical marijuana, pro-legalization and hemp interests spent more than $137,000 on lobbying last session, which is a lot, but maybe not as much as you would expect considering the stakes for patients, growers, caregivers, potential retailers and the existing dispensaries.

The three dispensaries spent the most: Greenleaf Compassion Center, $36,000; Slater Compassion Center, $30,000 and Summit Compassion Center, $20,000.

The pro-legalization Marijuana Policy Project spent $19,020. The remaining spending was Coastal Farms ($10,709), Evergreen Gardens ($6,000), Ocean State Hemp ($4,000) and Green Room Organic ($2,500).

Other nuggets among the thousands of filings:

? Medical Transportation Management, the company that arranges rides for Rhode Island Medicaid enrollees, spent $72,000 with a Boston-based lobbying firm during the session. Whether local connections may have helped soften the withering criticism from the House Oversight Committee is anyone's guess.

? Vape-maker Juul Labs spent $5,200 and its biggest investor, tobacco company Altria, spent $41,271 on lobbying. They may need to up that total next year to ward off products being restricted or banned.

? Developer Jason Fane paid lobbyist Andrew Annaldo $30,000 to help advance the 46-story Hope Point Tower project.

? Superman Building owner High Rock Development paid Capitol Communications $10,000 although there are few signs of activity around the building.

? Brokerage Residential Properties paid former Raimondo communications director Mike Raia $10,544 to fight proposed changes in Providence's property tax structure.

? Former Senate President M. Teresa Paiva Weed, now president of the Hospital Association, made $6,041 from lobbying.

? The National Football League paid Pannone Lopes Devereaux & O'Gara $20,000.

? Invenergy paid Christopher Boyle $20,000 in its doomed quest to build a power plant in Burrillville.

? Under fire prescription drugmaker Purdue Pharma paid Melissia Whitmarsh $2,000. Athena Solutions Group registered to lobby for the company at the beginning of the year, but reported no payments.

? Common Cause Rhode Island paid executive director and lobbyist watcher John Marion Jr. $18,750 to lobby.

? Recently retired Cranston firefighters union president Paul Valletta Jr. was paid $12,142 from the Rhode Island Association of Firefighters in a year that saw him successfully push to reduce the hours firefighters work before being paid overtime to 42-hours per week.

Raimondo's stand on Trump's impeachment

When she's ventured into national political issues, Raimondo has almost exclusively taken a centrist tack, warning of fellow Democrats going too far left and alienating moderates and job creators.

So where does she stand on impeachment of President Donald Trump, something fellow Northeast establishment Democrat Andrew Cuomo of New York initially criticized "leftist" Democrats for pushing, before walking back his remarks?

Raimondo spokesman Josh Block Friday:

"The Governor trusts Speaker Pelosi's judgment and supports her decision to move forward with an impeachment inquiry. These are serious allegations and they should be fully investigated."

___

(c)2019 The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.)

Visit The Providence Journal (Providence, R.I.) at www.projo.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.