The Post, Lobbying, and Colorado Pols

The Denver Post had a good front-page story yesterday about the effect of lobbyists in the state legislature, and the featured angle was on a story that Colorado Pols first reported.

According to the Post:

Colorado lobbyists have earned more than $7.5 million so far this year, sending some of the most influential people at the statehouse well on their way to another year of record earnings. And a review of lobbyist records by The Denver Post shows that the special interests got their money's worth.

For example, lobbyists helped kill a bill that would have let injured workers pick their own doctors and watered down legislation to create a list of preferred drugs for middle- and low-income Coloradans. The workers' compensation bill was the most-lobbied of the session, according to a Denver Post review of first-quarter records. And it died an unusual death. A supporter mistakenly cast the deciding vote against it, the House speaker quickly closed the voting machine, and legislative leaders failed to follow through on a promise to reintroduce it...

Rep. Morgan Carroll said she doesn't need data to know what lobbyists did to her bill. "Judging by my broken bones and bruises, I'm well aware how much the bill was lobbied," the Aurora Democrat said. "In my view, (lobbying) was a cancer."

That "mistaken" 'no' vote was no mistake. You had heard it here first.

Comments

[Ed]

I have two thoughts on this subject ... 1) What does it say for Democrats that their control of the state legislature has opened a wide open door to lobbyists' control?
2) What effect does term limits have on the overall influence of lobbying?

[alan smithee]

The fact that lobbyists have greater influence at the statehouse - as correlated by increased lobby fees??? - has nothing to do with which party is in control. It is a growing national trend at the state and federal levels.
A legislator would do well to make cleaning House an issue.

[Alfalfa]

This is exactly the price you pay for enacting term limits. All term limits do are shift the balance of power away from the legislators who are elected by and accountable to the public and into the unaccountable hands of the lobbyists or professional staff (probably less of a problem in our state as most lobbyists act as staff).

Term limits are about the dumbest thing voters can do to themselves. Sure, the whole thing sounds good: "we're going to create citizen legislators" or "no more professional legislators/politicians." Well, now Colorado has a class of "citizen legislators" who wouldn't know their way to statehouse bathroom unless a lobbyist pointed the direction. By the time our "citizen legislators" learn enough to actually become an effective voice for the public, they're out of office and a whole new crop of newbie legislators is in office taking marching orders from the special interests.

The funny part is that before term limits were enacted, we actually had them - they were these strange and magical things called "elections."

"Gee Grandpa, tell me about the time when our elected officials were actually held accountable by the voters..."

Terms limits have done nothing to advance how we are represented in Colorado, or in any other state for that matter. All it has done is create a highly paid and very influential crop of lobbyists controlling what happens in the statehouse. Great job, voters.

[Alfalfa]

And, as I rant on, we regularly denigrate and mock legislators like Morgan Carroll for trying to stand up to lobbyists. Sure, we mock her because it's not smart for her political career to ignore lobbysits. God forbid we'd look past politics for two whole seconds and maybe consider here's a legislator trying to represent her constituents and not just those who can afford to pay a lobbyist.

There must be something wrong with her! My goodness, she is a fool to stand on principle! Shame! Shame!

[Jake]

Prior to term limits power was concentrated in the hands of a few politicians and a few high powered lobbyists. The old guard in the lobbying crew hate term limits as much, if not more, than you Alfalfa. Their power has been diminished somewhat by the fact that new legislators and therefore new lobbyists are able to have some influence in the process.

M Carroll hurts herself in the dome because she acts as though she has all the answers. Yes, there are lobbyists in the bldg that are paid to take a view different from hers (oh the horror, they don't agree with her liberal agenda and are paid to work against it).

Even in staff driven DC or other states with actual paid staffs, lobbyists serve an important role. No one can know everything about everything. If they pretend to then they are making a bad decision.

[Jake]

Prior to term limits power was concentrated in the hands of a few politicians and a few high powered lobbyists. The old guard in the lobbying crew hate term limits as much, if not more, than you Alfalfa. Their power has been diminished somewhat by the fact that new legislators and therefore new lobbyists are able to have some influence in the process.

M Carroll hurts herself in the dome because she acts as though she has all the answers. Yes, there are lobbyists in the bldg that are paid to take a view different from hers (oh the horror, they don't agree with her liberal agenda and are paid to work against it).

Even in staff driven DC or other states with actual paid staffs, lobbyists serve an important role. No one can know everything about everything. If they pretend to then they are making a bad decision.

[VLADIMIR]

Hey bottom line
Is Anne McGihon a Liar?
Or, is Anne McGihon too stupid to vote the way she is supposed to on a big issue?
With bozos like Anne McGihon no wonder Dems are likely to lose control of the Legislature --
My read is that McGihon is simply a liar who sold out for promises of three or four $200 checks from lobbyists --