Post by MacBeth on Jan 22, 2009 6:56:36 GMT -5
By Susan Crabtree
Posted: 01/21/09 07:56 PM [ET]
Lobbyists willing to pay a $25,000 fee will mingle with House Republicans at their annual winter retreat next week in Hot Springs, Va.
The lobbyists are board members or sit on the private sector advisory committee for the Congressional Institute, a nonprofit organization that arranges conferences and lunches for both parties. Lobbyists attending the event will have no part in the closed-door caucus planning session, but lawmakers and lobbyists alike said business does come up informally.
“Of course it’s about access and building relationships — that’s what this town is all about,” said one lawmaker who has attended the retreats for years. He said lobbyists who travel to the retreats often stay on for after-hours socializing throughout the weekend.
“It’s not like they’re sitting there plugging their corporate issues — but as with anything, their clients’ interests inevitably come up.”
No one attending the conference — lawmakers or lobbyists — are breaking any House rules. While lawmakers cannot take trips that last more than two days with an entity that employs lobbyists, the rules say nothing about travel put together by a nonprofit organization with lobbyists as board members.
Democrats and Republicans have traded barbs for years over retreat funding. Republicans charge Democrats with using taxpayer money to pick up at least part of the tab, and Democrats have slammed Republicans for allowing the Congressional Institute to bankroll some of the costs and allow K Street’s big corporate players on its private-sector advisory committee to show up to the dinner.
A GOP conference spokesman said the ethics panel has approved the retreat, which will be open to reporters.
“There’s a stark difference between using taxpayer dollars in the middle of a recession for a retreat, compared to ours, which is an open conference which the media will be covering.”
Democrats prohibit lobbyists from joining them at their own retreat, and nonpartisan ethics watchdogs argue that lobbyists can use their presence at nonprofit organizations such as the Congressional Institute to gain valuable access to lawmakers.
“The exemption for nonprofits, when it was included, was not a slam-dunk in my view,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center. “Everyone recognized that nonprofits could be used as conduits. You can’t just say it’s a nonprofit—that’s fine and dandy. That doesn’t reflect reality.”
The debate over attending the retreats is not new, but the $25,000 fee for serving on the Institute’s board is not well-known. It has become an irritation to some lobbyists. One GOP lobbyist complained that only the most powerful firms can afford the $25,000, especially in a time of leaner budgets. This gives some firms an advantage in getting lawmakers’ attention, the lobbyist said.
Members of the Institute’s advisory committee are not listed on its website, so it is not clear who will be attending next week’s retreat, set to take place Jan. 29-31. The website does list members of the group’s board, who are all top-flight lobbyists who pay the $25,000 fee.
Michael S. Johnson, who chairs the board, is a partner at OB-C Group whose clients include General Motors and JP Morgan Chase & Co., as well as the Security Industry and Financial Markets Association. Another board member, Gary Andres of Dutko Worldwide, lobbies for HSBC, United Healthcare and the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform. Other board members include Duane Duncan, who worked as one of Fannie Mae’s top lobbyists before it closed its lobbying operations last year, as well as Marcel Dubois of UPS and Bruce Gates of Altria, a top tobacco company, who is close to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.).
Mark Strand, the Institute’s president, confirmed the fee but would not release a list of private-sector advisory committee members.
He said the Institute is very careful to follow all of the ethics rules, adding that many of the board and advisory committee members are former staffers who are simply interested in providing information and tools that help Capitol Hill offices run more smoothly.
He rejected the notion that lobbyists were showing up at the GOP retreat to push corporate agendas.
“Usually these days, access to members involves a campaign check,” he said. “Isn’t it better to help members plan and strategize and study issues … to provide an opportunity to get away from Washington and not worry about the 30-second sound bite?”
During the first night of the House Republican retreat, the Institute’s advisory committee hosts a banquet for GOP lawmakers and senior staff. During the year, it hosts periodic lunches for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Democrats have long barred lobbyists from their retreat sites, and in 2006, after the Jack Abramoff scandal, Republicans also prohibited lobbyists from attending their retreat.
But Republicans lifted the ban the following year. This year, lobbyists who sit on the Institute’s board are free to make the trip.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said he thinks Republicans should avoid any appearance of impropriety but deferred to the Congressional Institute direct questions about the lobbyists at the retreat.
Members on both sides of the aisle typically pay most of the retreat costs out of their campaign accounts. But for years, Republicans have allowed the Institute to subsidize some of the expenses for staff travel. Democrats have used the Democratic Caucus official budget to cover similar costs. They will gather at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., in early February.
Neither the House GOP Conference nor the Democratic Caucus would provide rough numbers of the retreat costs. Nor would either say how much the Congressional Institute and the caucus subsidize costs.
McGehee said she was always wary about the exemption Democrats made for nonprofit organizations in new House rules approved in 2007 on lawmaker travel, because of the potential for abuse.
Travel, she said, merits close scrutiny, especially when a board composed of lobbyists hosts a dinner for members intended to help forge relationships that will come in handy later.
“It’s a exclusivity game,” she said, and “not everybody can afford to pay the $25,000 ‘goodwill’ price tag.”
thehill.com/leading-the-news/25k-gop-retreat-fee-draws-fire-2009-01-21_2.html
Posted: 01/21/09 07:56 PM [ET]
Lobbyists willing to pay a $25,000 fee will mingle with House Republicans at their annual winter retreat next week in Hot Springs, Va.
The lobbyists are board members or sit on the private sector advisory committee for the Congressional Institute, a nonprofit organization that arranges conferences and lunches for both parties. Lobbyists attending the event will have no part in the closed-door caucus planning session, but lawmakers and lobbyists alike said business does come up informally.
“Of course it’s about access and building relationships — that’s what this town is all about,” said one lawmaker who has attended the retreats for years. He said lobbyists who travel to the retreats often stay on for after-hours socializing throughout the weekend.
“It’s not like they’re sitting there plugging their corporate issues — but as with anything, their clients’ interests inevitably come up.”
No one attending the conference — lawmakers or lobbyists — are breaking any House rules. While lawmakers cannot take trips that last more than two days with an entity that employs lobbyists, the rules say nothing about travel put together by a nonprofit organization with lobbyists as board members.
Democrats and Republicans have traded barbs for years over retreat funding. Republicans charge Democrats with using taxpayer money to pick up at least part of the tab, and Democrats have slammed Republicans for allowing the Congressional Institute to bankroll some of the costs and allow K Street’s big corporate players on its private-sector advisory committee to show up to the dinner.
A GOP conference spokesman said the ethics panel has approved the retreat, which will be open to reporters.
“There’s a stark difference between using taxpayer dollars in the middle of a recession for a retreat, compared to ours, which is an open conference which the media will be covering.”
Democrats prohibit lobbyists from joining them at their own retreat, and nonpartisan ethics watchdogs argue that lobbyists can use their presence at nonprofit organizations such as the Congressional Institute to gain valuable access to lawmakers.
“The exemption for nonprofits, when it was included, was not a slam-dunk in my view,” said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center. “Everyone recognized that nonprofits could be used as conduits. You can’t just say it’s a nonprofit—that’s fine and dandy. That doesn’t reflect reality.”
The debate over attending the retreats is not new, but the $25,000 fee for serving on the Institute’s board is not well-known. It has become an irritation to some lobbyists. One GOP lobbyist complained that only the most powerful firms can afford the $25,000, especially in a time of leaner budgets. This gives some firms an advantage in getting lawmakers’ attention, the lobbyist said.
Members of the Institute’s advisory committee are not listed on its website, so it is not clear who will be attending next week’s retreat, set to take place Jan. 29-31. The website does list members of the group’s board, who are all top-flight lobbyists who pay the $25,000 fee.
Michael S. Johnson, who chairs the board, is a partner at OB-C Group whose clients include General Motors and JP Morgan Chase & Co., as well as the Security Industry and Financial Markets Association. Another board member, Gary Andres of Dutko Worldwide, lobbies for HSBC, United Healthcare and the Coalition to Advance Healthcare Reform. Other board members include Duane Duncan, who worked as one of Fannie Mae’s top lobbyists before it closed its lobbying operations last year, as well as Marcel Dubois of UPS and Bruce Gates of Altria, a top tobacco company, who is close to House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio.).
Mark Strand, the Institute’s president, confirmed the fee but would not release a list of private-sector advisory committee members.
He said the Institute is very careful to follow all of the ethics rules, adding that many of the board and advisory committee members are former staffers who are simply interested in providing information and tools that help Capitol Hill offices run more smoothly.
He rejected the notion that lobbyists were showing up at the GOP retreat to push corporate agendas.
“Usually these days, access to members involves a campaign check,” he said. “Isn’t it better to help members plan and strategize and study issues … to provide an opportunity to get away from Washington and not worry about the 30-second sound bite?”
During the first night of the House Republican retreat, the Institute’s advisory committee hosts a banquet for GOP lawmakers and senior staff. During the year, it hosts periodic lunches for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.
Democrats have long barred lobbyists from their retreat sites, and in 2006, after the Jack Abramoff scandal, Republicans also prohibited lobbyists from attending their retreat.
But Republicans lifted the ban the following year. This year, lobbyists who sit on the Institute’s board are free to make the trip.
House Republican Conference Chairman Mike Pence (Ind.) said he thinks Republicans should avoid any appearance of impropriety but deferred to the Congressional Institute direct questions about the lobbyists at the retreat.
Members on both sides of the aisle typically pay most of the retreat costs out of their campaign accounts. But for years, Republicans have allowed the Institute to subsidize some of the expenses for staff travel. Democrats have used the Democratic Caucus official budget to cover similar costs. They will gather at the Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg, Va., in early February.
Neither the House GOP Conference nor the Democratic Caucus would provide rough numbers of the retreat costs. Nor would either say how much the Congressional Institute and the caucus subsidize costs.
McGehee said she was always wary about the exemption Democrats made for nonprofit organizations in new House rules approved in 2007 on lawmaker travel, because of the potential for abuse.
Travel, she said, merits close scrutiny, especially when a board composed of lobbyists hosts a dinner for members intended to help forge relationships that will come in handy later.
“It’s a exclusivity game,” she said, and “not everybody can afford to pay the $25,000 ‘goodwill’ price tag.”
thehill.com/leading-the-news/25k-gop-retreat-fee-draws-fire-2009-01-21_2.html