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Nathan Benefield: How officials use tax dollars in lobbying efforts

Associated Press

Nathan Benefield: How officials use tax dollars in lobbying efforts

Used-car salesmen, members of Congress and telemarketers all rank near the bottom of least-trusted professions. The lowest, however, is lobbyist. For decades, media and good government advocates have railed against the influence of special-interest lobbyists and demanded lobbying reform.

Recently in Pennsylvania, House and Senate leaders rolled out a package of reforms aimed at addressing this mistrust of lobbyists. But reform isn’t just a matter of transparency — Sometimes it’s about eliminating conflicts of interest.

Few Pennsylvanians know about taxpayer-funded lobbying, but state government, local governments, school districts and government agencies across Pennsylvania treat it as common practice. These bureaucrats spend millions to lobby other parts of government, often for more spending and higher taxes.

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A new analysis by the Commonwealth Foundation found that local governments and agencies in Pennsylvania spent at least $42 million in taxpayer money on lobbyists between 2007 and 2020. This total includes government hiring outside contract lobbyists and paying dues to associations that lobby other parts of government, including the federal government, where contract lobbying has cost Pennsylvania taxpayers $3 million since 2017. The entire list of recorded taxpayer-funded lobbying is available at CommonwealthFoundation.org.

The first type of taxpayer-funded lobbying, contract lobbying, is costly and corrupt. In the commonwealth, 26 state agencies and local governments have paid $18 million to outside lobbyists since 2007. For example, the Pittsburgh Public Schools spent at least $550,000 contracting with the law firm Buchanan, Ingersoll & Rooney since 2013 to advocate for higher state subsidies, among other things. And Greene County retained lobbying firm Delta Development Group for over $2 million from 2007–2020 to secure funds for economic development projects such as a public airport.

Pennsylvania’s worst offender in contract lobbying is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, which, since 2015, has paid six lobbying firms a total of $3.82 million. SEPTA’s lobbyists have pushed for higher state taxes, additional federal subsidies, and even using Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls and debt to subsidize the agency. These payments come from the tax dollars of all Pennsylvanians — including Pittsburghers — but only benefit Philadelphia-area train riders.

The second type of taxpayer-funded lobbying is dues to nonprofit associations that hire lobbyists on behalf of government. For example, the Pennsylvania School Boards Association is a $9 million organization — primarily taxpayer-funded through dues sent by Pennsylvania school districts. The organization has nine lobbyists registered with the Department of State pushing not only for greater state subsidies but also to attack charter schools and undermine parental choice in education. The PSBA recently hired former Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, a well-connected Democrat, to lobby against charter schools.

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Another major taxpayer-funded lobbying group is the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania. CCAP is an affiliate of the National Association of Counties, a $45.7 million organization. Currently, CCAP has 17 registered lobbyists, and Allegheny County, for example, paid around $1.5 million to CCAP for dues and services between 2017-20. CCAP has used taxpayer dollars to lobby for state spending increases and tax hikes and against legislation to limit the growth of state spending.

Taxpayer-funded lobbying can also create legal trouble for local government officials due to conflicts of interest and breaches of fiduciary duty. For example, Allegheny County Controller Chelsea Wagner threatened to sue four county agencies over their contracting processes in 2015 and later investigated the board members for conflicts of interest regarding a $1 billion construction project, which she said presented ample opportunity for “self-dealing and favoritism.”

Career politicians and bureaucrats might be desensitized to how self-dealing of this kind hurts average Pennsylvanians — and they need to wake up. Using taxpayer money to hire lobbyists who ask state government for more money drives up state taxes even further. It’s a vicious cycle that squeezes working families and small businesses in the name of big government.

Bills recently introduced in the Pennsylvania House and Senate would help address this inequitable abuse. HB 1607, sponsored by Rep. Russ Diamond, prohibits any state entity from hiring an outside lobbyist. SB 802, sponsored by Sen. Kristin Phillips-Hill would prohibit entities, including local governments and state agencies, from hiring a contract lobbyist or political consultant.

These reforms are necessary to level the playing field and protect taxpayers. Lawmakers should move quickly to pass and Gov. Tom Wolf should sign the measure to end taxpayer-funded lobbying.

Nathan Benefield is senior vice president of the Commonwealth Foundation, a Harrisburg think tank.

First Published: January 3, 2022, 5:30 a.m.

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The Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg.  (Associated Press)
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