[Ip-health] Bloomberg: Revolving Door Spins Ex-Hill Aides Into Lobbyists

[Sarah Rimmington]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=3D20601070&sid=3Da.sSBuhd1cLY#

Revolving Door Spins Ex-Hill Aides Into Lobbyists (Update1)
By Jonathan D. Salant and Lizzie O=92Leary


Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- The army of industry lobbyists in the
health-care battle is fighting on familiar terrain: More than half of
them used to work for the government they=92re trying to influence.

Of 2,737 lobbyists hired to promote the interests of drug companies,
insurers, hospitals, health professionals, industry groups and business
organizations, 1,418 -- or 52 percent -- have worked for Congress, the
White House or federal agencies. That includes 55 former members of
Congress.

Government veterans give clients such as Amgen Inc. -- the world=92s
biggest biotechnology company, represented by 35 former congressional
employees -- an advantage over public-interest organizations and groups
with different health-care priorities. Former lawmakers or committee
aides have an easier time getting through to erstwhile colleagues and
know which arguments are persuasive, said Representative Maurice Hinchey.

=93It gives them a leg up in terms of being able to talk to people more
easily,=94 said Hinchey, a New York Democrat and a member of the
Congressional Progressive Caucus, which supports creating a
government-run health plan to compete with private insurers. =93Their
names are familiar. They=92ve had conversations before with the people
they now want to influence.=94

Former Colleagues

Health-care lobbyists include former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott,
a Mississippi Republican, and Louisiana=92s former Democratic Senator John
Breaux. Both sat on the Senate Finance Committee, which is debating
legislation to remake a health-care system that accounts for about 18
percent of the U.S. economy.

Their firm, Breaux Lott Leadership Group, represents the Pharmaceutical
Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry=92s Washington
trade group.

The Podesta Group, the fourth biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009,
has several former congressional staffers as it represents 22 clients in
the health care debate. =93These are people who know the members and know
the staff and understand the inner workings of the leadership and the
various important committees,=94 chairman Tony Podesta said. =93It=92s an
enormously significant helpful thing to have.=94

Outnumbering Congress

Counting representatives for all clients, including municipalities,
educational or religious organizations, and advocacy groups, 3,300
people -- six for every member of Congress -- have registered to lobby
on health-care proposals.

While federal law requires lobbyists to disclose high- ranking
government positions, many people omitted that information, according to
a review of thousands of forms filed with the House and Senate. To
measure the role of former federal employees, the disclosures were
supplemented with information from lobbying firms=92 Web sites; LegiStorm,
an independent Web site on Congress; social-networking sites; and the
Center for Responsive Politics, a Washington research group.

Among business and industry lobbyists with government backgrounds, 1,261
of them worked on Capitol Hill. More than half of those, 680 lobbyists,
were former members or aides from the five committees writing
health-care legislation: the Finance and Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions committees in the Senate; and the Ways and Means, Energy and
Commerce, and Education and Labor committees in the House.

Revolving Door

=93The revolving door is one of the most effective ways of
influence-peddling on Capitol Hill,=94 said Craig Holman of Public
Citizen, a Washington advocacy group that supports stricter lobbying
restrictions. =93It provides a special- interest group with exceptional
inside access.=94

The pharmaceutical trade group, known as PhRMA, hired 86 lobbyists who
have worked on Capitol Hill, more than anyone else, records show. The
Business Roundtable, the Washington- based association of chief
executive officers, and Thousand Oaks, California-based Amgen each had
35 congressional veterans representing their interests.

=93Clearly, former Hill staffers have a unique understanding of the
legislative process,=94 said PhRMA senior vice president Ken Johnson.
Amgen spokeswoman Emma Hurley didn=92t immediately return a call seeking
comment.

Richard Kirsch, national campaign manager of Health Care for America
Now, a coalition of labor and advocacy groups such as the AFL-CIO and
the NAACP, said consumer-oriented organizations don=92t have the same
firepower.

=93Groups that represent citizens and consumers are going to be totally
outgunned on Capitol Hill,=94 said Kirsch, whose group supports public
competition with private insurers and premiums based on the ability to
pay. =93Not only are we going to be outnumbered, but the other side is
going to be speaking with people they have longstanding relationships with.=
=94

Experience

Clients other than industry and business-related groups have 684
lobbyists who have registered to work on health-care issues. Of those,
245 people -- or 36 percent -- have worked in Congress or the executive
branch. Some lobbyists have both industry and non-industry clients.

Former Florida Representative Jim Davis said his experience in Congress
is an advantage for clients at Miami-based Holland & Knight LLP, the
fifth-biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009.

=93Having sat in their shoes, I think I have an appreciation for their
task and an understanding of how these lawmakers are under enormous
pressure to write a bill, something that is actually going to work,=94
said Davis, a Florida Democrat whose clients include the Florida
Hospital Association.

Getting phone calls returned doesn=92t mean that Capitol Hill veterans get
everything they ask for, said John Jonas, a former Ways and Means
committee aide who works at Washington-based Patton Boggs LLP, the
biggest lobbying firm by revenue in 2009.

=93It really gives you an understanding of how decisions are reached and
what information they look at,=94 said Jonas, whose clients include New
York-based Pfizer Inc., the world=92s biggest drugmaker, and New
York-based Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. =93I don=92t think it ever rises to the
level of, if I go in and say something, they say, =91No problem, John.=92=
=94

To contact the reporters on this story: Jonathan D. Salant in Washington
at jsalant@bloomberg.net; Lizzie O=92Leary in Washington at
loleary2@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 25, 2009 12:13 EDT


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--
Sarah Rimmington
Attorney
Essential Action, Access to Medicines Project
Washington, DC
Tel: +1 (202) 387-8030
Cell: +1 (202) 422-2687
www.essentialaction.org/access/

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