Posted by Phil Lee (205.252.11.182) on September 04, 2000 at 06:22:
Resort Attracts Md. Lawmakers, Lobbyists
By Daniel LeDuc
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 9, 2000; Page B01
BILOXI, Miss., Aug. 8 –– The red, white and blue bus rolled up to the Porter House restaurant outside this gulf resort town, disgorging 38 Maryland legislators and their spouses who walked past the "Closed for Private Party" sign and went inside to be greeted by some familiar faces.
The host for the evening, Thomas Saquella, who heads the Maryland Retail Merchants Association, welcomed them and announced to polite applause the other hosts who would be picking up the party tab: 13 other Annapolis lobbyists and executives from corporations including Miller Brewing Co., Philip Morris, Exxon and Lorillard Tobacco Co.
The buffet menu included shrimp and pork loin with strawberries and chocolate for dessert. It was the third night in a row that the Maryland legislators could partake of the largess of lobbyists who flew here from Annapolis for the Southern Legislative Conference. Saturday night, lobbyist Laurence Levitan was host to some of the lawmakers at a French restaurant near the beach; on Sunday evening, another lobbyist, Ira Cooke, invited the legislators to dinner at the Beau Rivage hotel and casino.
Just before Monday evening's dinner at the Porter House, Del. Dana Lee Dembrow (D-Montgomery) and Sen. Jennie M. Forehand (D-Montgomery) nibbled gulf-fresh shrimp at a special reception for the dozens of corporate donors picking up much of the bill of a legislative conference where there were about as many lobbyists as there were lawmakers.
Under Maryland's ethics rules, the lawmakers could not accept those meals in Annapolis. Nor could they attend other activities paid for by lobbyists or their corporate bosses unless the entire legislature had been invited. But Annapolis lawmakers passed a special exemption to the law that allows them to enjoy those same activities when they attend out-of-state conferences approved by the General Assembly's leadership.
So, in Biloxi, RJ Reynolds Tobacco Co. sponsored today's free golf tournament that attracted Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D-Prince George's). BellSouth paid for the funny repartee of political analysts Bob Beckel and Kellyanne Fitzpatrick that had Sen. Thomas McLain Middleton (D-Charles) guffawing.
And Annapolis lobbyist Bruce C. Bereano and Maryland State Teachers Association lobbyist Diana Saquella captained the luncheon cruise aboard a 68-foot schooner, where their shipmates included House Majority Whip George W. Owings III (D-Calvert), Sen. Gloria G. Lawlah (D-Prince George's), Sen. Edward J. Kasemeyer (D-Howard), Del. David M. Valderrama (D-Prince George's), Del. James E. Proctor Jr. (D-Prince George's), Sen. Nathaniel Exum (D-Prince George's), Del. Nathaniel T. Oaks (D-Baltimore), Sen. John J. Hafer (R-Allegany), Sen. Arthur Dorman (D-Prince George's), Del. Diane DeCarlo (D-Baltimore County), Sen. Ulysses Currie (D-Prince George's) and Del. Carolyn J.B. Howard (D-Prince George's).
Although not a complete list of those who sailed the schooner Glenn L. Swetmann when it departed the Beau Rivage's marina Monday afternoon, that is more of the names than will appear in any disclosure statements supplied to Maryland's State Ethics Commission. The same exemption to the law that allowed the lawmakers to accept the meals and entertainment at out-of-town conferences also did away with a requirement for disclosure by the legislators or the lobbyists.
"Is it a loophole? Yeah. But it's the same loophole as Annapolis," Dembrow said.
He noted that the new ethics law that bans lobbyists from entertaining legislators one-on-one or from providing them sports tickets still allows lobbyists to play host to lawmakers for committee and delegation receptions and dinners.
"I think the propensity for mischief is greater in Annapolis when we're in session and people are actively lobbying," Dembrow said. "In Annapolis, a single lobbyist frequently takes out an entire committee. That abuse is probably greater than what occurs here."
The exemption to allow out-of-town wining and dining of legislators by lobbyists was added at the last minute when the ethics legislation was being negotiated in conference committee. Without it, Miller and House Speaker Casper R. Taylor Jr. (D-Allegany), who did not come to Biloxi, argued that Maryland lawmakers would not be able to take advantage of many of the activities at out-of-town conferences.
Some of the corporate sponsors seemed to recognize that. RJ Reynolds's golf tournament invitation includes the notation: "The ethics laws in some states prohibit or limit expenditures of corporations for legislators. Your participation in this event could be prohibited or require you to pay all or part of the cost of this golf outing."
State government paid to fly the Maryland legislators to the Biloxi conference and provided them $175 a day for hotels and meals. Rooms at the Beau Rivage were $115 per night.
Maryland is to be host of the Southern Legislative Conference in 2006. Dembrow and Dorman chair important conference committees, and today Miller was elected its chairman-elect.
Miller, who said he would reimburse Reynolds for playing golf, said the corporate sponsorship is necessary because the gatherings are not paid for with tax dollars and can be an important economic development tool.
The Biloxi convention comes as corporations are spending more money on their interactions with politicians. Last week's GOP convention in Philadelphia was criticized for excessive entertaining, and corporations are gearing up for next week's Democratic convention in Los Angeles. Although the Biloxi gathering is not nearly as extravagant, the list of corporate sponsors here runs five pages in the conference program, from Anheuser-Busch to Wyeth-Ayerst pharmaceuticals.
"Maybe the deeper dialogue should be about how these things should be underwritten," said Senate Minority Leader Martin G. Madden (R-Howard), who said his policy is to reimburse lobbyists for dinners such as the event at the Porter House, which he attended. "If the system is going to change, someone's going to have to put a price tag on what it would cost a state to do this."
Host states are told they need to raise at least $500,000 for entertainment activities at the legislative conference. The conference also asks corporate donors to pay the speaking fees for the likes of Beckel and Fitzpatrick.
"It's going to be a real problem with our ethics rules, raising the money for a convention like this," said Forehand, who serves on the conference's executive committee. But she said, "Somebody's got to pay for it. All the corporate sponsorship saves the state money."
No one here was talking about stopping the entertainment by the Maryland lobbyists, although after newspaper stories about Bereano's boat ride, some lawmakers decided not to show up at the marina.
"There is some fear among some of my colleagues," Owings said as he prepared for the ride, for which he said he reimbursed Bereano after being interviewed.
"Some of them have developed a sudden case of motion sickness and have decided not to take the trip for fear their names will end up in print."