Florida Gov. Rick Scott (R)
One of the ways that special interests get their way is by getting their own people into offices of the government. Last August, Joe Costello, a lobbyist for corporate clients, joined the office of Florida Governor Rick Scott (R) as his director of legislative affairs. Costello actually lobbied for HCA Healthcare, where Scott was famously an executive when the hospital chain was responsible for some of the largest Medicare fraud in history.
Now, having spent a year in Scott’s office, Costello is returning to the exact same lobbying firm,Ai??Rutledge, Ecenia and Purnell — meaning he passed through the revolving door from one side, to the next, only to return to where started.
The Costello example is just one instance of where corporate lobbyists achieved positions of power in Scott’s administration. The governor even appointed a former beer lobbyist unfamiliar with federal voting laws at the state’s secretary of state.
Not only should the “revolving door” be closed between governments and lobbying firms, those lobbying firms per se should be made illegal to operate.
Another vital reform that needs implementation is to make illegal any lobbying activity done on behalf of an entity different from the person(s) lobbying. If an organization wishes to promote some issue, it should be willing to do that itself and not hire one of these law/lobbying firms or agencies to do it for them. A couple of years ago, my boss who is a physician, personally went to Washington, visited several senators and representatives to try and persuade them to include three items in healthcare reform. That is fine with me. He is a constituent, just like I am, who needs to express his views to his representatives. On the other hand, a group to which he belongs employs a firm to handle lobbying on their behalf; they do not do it themselves. I happen to know that this particular firm handles several clients, some of whose goals conflict with goals of other clients! That perturbs me. Here’s another example: if Defenders of Wildlife wants to lobby to save wolves, members of Defenders of Wildlife should trek to Washington to plead their case or send letters/emails. That gives officials an HONEST argument. Hiring a law firm to lobby for them just seems a dishonest approach because that law firm may not agree with their stance. People ought to be willing to advocate for what they truly, genuinely believe in, not in order to earn fees. Advocacy should not be a business at all, but an expression of the public will.