You are here
Green Bay Punts on Lobbying Law
Thursday, May 22nd, 2014
Robert Wechsler
A local lobbying law is only as good as its enforcement, especially
when local government leaders provide no leadership.
According to a column by Scott Cooper Williams in the Green Bay (WI) Press Gazette yesterday, Green Bay passed a lobbying registration law three years ago and, since that time, only seven lobbyists, representing two total clients, registered.
This city hall reporter says that he saw lobbying going on all the time. "That is why I expected a rush of activity when city leaders three years ago took steps to make lobbying more transparent. ... But weeks turned into months, and not a single lobbyist came forward to sign up."
Williams says that, knowing that there is lots of lobbying in city hall, the lack of registration means that the lobbying program needs tightening. But instead, the council backpedaled on lobbying, excluding in-house lobbyists from the registration requirement.
At the local level, there are a lot more in-house lobbyists than contract lobbyists. Much of the lobbying is done by executives at local companies (e.g., contractors, developers, and the Packers). To exclude in-house lobbyists, who haven't been registering anyway, and whom council members (who certainly know who they are) haven't criticized for not registering, is effectively proof that lobbying works and that council members favor special interests even to the extent of not requiring them to follow the laws they pass.
As Williams so astutely puts it, "The city implemented the change after being approached by local companies concerned about the disclosure requirement. Which begs the obvious question: Did those company representatives first register as lobbyists? Nope."
See a 2011 blog post on Green Bay's serious lack of ethics leadership.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
According to a column by Scott Cooper Williams in the Green Bay (WI) Press Gazette yesterday, Green Bay passed a lobbying registration law three years ago and, since that time, only seven lobbyists, representing two total clients, registered.
This city hall reporter says that he saw lobbying going on all the time. "That is why I expected a rush of activity when city leaders three years ago took steps to make lobbying more transparent. ... But weeks turned into months, and not a single lobbyist came forward to sign up."
Williams says that, knowing that there is lots of lobbying in city hall, the lack of registration means that the lobbying program needs tightening. But instead, the council backpedaled on lobbying, excluding in-house lobbyists from the registration requirement.
At the local level, there are a lot more in-house lobbyists than contract lobbyists. Much of the lobbying is done by executives at local companies (e.g., contractors, developers, and the Packers). To exclude in-house lobbyists, who haven't been registering anyway, and whom council members (who certainly know who they are) haven't criticized for not registering, is effectively proof that lobbying works and that council members favor special interests even to the extent of not requiring them to follow the laws they pass.
As Williams so astutely puts it, "The city implemented the change after being approached by local companies concerned about the disclosure requirement. Which begs the obvious question: Did those company representatives first register as lobbyists? Nope."
See a 2011 blog post on Green Bay's serious lack of ethics leadership.
Robert Wechsler
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics
---
Story Topics:
- Robert Wechsler's blog
- Log in or register to post comments
