"Whenever I tell people I am a lobbyist, there is an embarrassed pause." In relating this, I speak not only from personal experience, I'm also quoting a fellow lobbyist named Arnold Mayer. Obviously, we are observing a universal reaction.
I would take this observation a step further. After a moment or two of that embarrassed pause, people ask - "Exactly what does a lobbyist do?"
Most people have an image of a lobbyist as a well-paid, well-dressed agent of a wealthy company, and many do fit that description. But that's only one part of the picture.
It's obvious why a private company would hire someone to be involved in the business of government; after all, government always seems willing to involve itself in private business. But lobbyists represent virtually every diverse interest found in society. To balance those corporate lobbyists you will find union delegates. In the high-ceilinged halls outside our Legislative chambers - lobbyists are, after all, actually found in lobbies - you will find agents of heavy industry positioned next to back-to-nature environmentalists. There will be self-styled "citizens" groups, a label which implies other interests don't represent citizens, and victim's rights advocates standing next to prison reformers. You will find champions of young and old, rich and poor, people with medical afflictions, and medical professionals whose job it is to heal them.
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Yes, lobbyists represent special interests. The trouble is, most of us have an interest we consider special.
A recent Democrat and Chronicle editorial on lobbying reported the impressive statistic that lobbyists were paid $55 million to influence state legislation in 1998. But that number isn't as impressive when seen in a larger context, that it amounted to less than 1/10th of one percent of state government's $71.5 billion budget that year. Taken to another level, it was less than 1/100th of one percent of the state's overall $600 billion economy.
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This context is important. Because when the total amount spent on lobbying is announced each year, it inevitably brings calls for "reform" by those self-styled "citizens" groups, who often appear to march in lockstep to the drumbeat of their own sanctimony. One recently proposed "reform" demanded that lobbyists wear visible identification tags, an idea eerily akin to the medieval practice of making lepers wear bells, to warn away all who came near. These same groups have now produced a "fat cats" list which includes the state teachers union. I've known many teachers, and while this may surprise those who thought I paid no attention in their class, it was apparent to me that darned few of them were "fat cats."
The obvious implication of this demand for reform is that government is for sale to the highest bidder. But facts belie this notion. The largest single amount spent on lobbying last year was the $1.8 million spent by New York Life Insurance Company. They still failed to achieve their number one goal. If government were really for sale, as the "reformers" want us to believe, then the highest bidders would always get what they want.
Before taking up the banner of lobbying reform, let's ask the obvious question - why allow lobbyists at all? Besides the fact that lobbying is protected by the First Amendment, there are good reasons to countenance lobbyists.
Perhaps the best reason is that New York is so diverse that legislators can't possibly understand all the consequences, intended or not, that could result from the several thousand pieces of legislation considered each year. The principal business of the lobbyist is to explain those consequences. This information often saves a lot of money that would otherwise come from the pockets of consumers.
Equally important is that our society has many competing, often conflicting interests, and not all the demands of those interests can, or should be, satisfied by government. Lobbyists help those interests make their best case to the people who decide which will emerge satisfied and which will be disappointed.
In the end, what Albany lobbyists do is help create or protect jobs, safeguard the environment, enhance worker rights, victim rights, convict rights, and perform a host of other useful functions. Their work promotes the growth of the 10th largest economy in the world.
In short, lobbyists are a vital part of the process by which our communities constantly rebuild themselves. When people ask what a lobbyist does, I'm always proud to tell them.
