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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, MARCH 4, 2019
Lobbyists remain a powerful constant in Salem
Special interests
spent $39 million
on infl uence in 2017
By CLAIRE
WITHYCOMBE,
AUBREY WIEBER and
PARIS ACHEN
Oregon Capital Bureau
SALEM — As the Legis-
lature steams ahead, an army
of 1,000 lobbyists is at work
to gain political favors from
the state legislators.
Two years ago, special
interests reported to the state
that they spent $39 million
on that effort.
The most expensive lob-
bying effort in 2017 was
staged by the Oregon Asso-
ciation of Realtors, followed
by Western States Petroleum
Association and the Oregon
Nurses Association, accord-
ing to spending reports
required by the state.
Oregon law requires any-
one who hires a lobbyist to
report what they spend to
try to bend the Legislature to
their will.
That transparency is
intended to hold legislators
and lobbyists accountable,
providing the public a way to
judge who’s serving whom.
Housing advocates and
hospitals
have
already
secured big wins with a fi rst-
of-its-kind rent control bill
signed into law Thursday and
a Medicaid bill awaiting sig-
nature by Gov. Kate Brown.
Still to come are sig-
nifi cant proposals such as
carbon pricing, campaign
fi nance reform and educa-
tion spending, as well as a
tobacco tax and pharmaceu-
tical pricing bills. To date,
more than 2,000 bills have
been introduced.
Lobbyists will have a
say in which ones make it
and which ones get nothing
more than an introduction
followed by a quiet politi-
cal burial. The 1,079 lobby-
ists registered with the state
are beholden only to the
1,150 clients who pay them.
Employers can have several
lobbyists. The labor union
SEIU Local 503 and sports-
wear giant Nike, for instance,
each has nine registered
lobbyists.
The lobbyists return year
after year, some decade after
decade. In contrast, some leg-
islators last only a term, serv-
ing two years in the House
and four in the Senate.
“In a Legislature that has
extremely high turnover,
there are different institu-
tional forces that have impact
on the outcomes of legisla-
tion,” said s tate Rep. Dan
Rayfi eld, D-Corvallis. “And
some of the people that are
institutional forces are legis-
lators that have been around
for a while, that have a histor-
ical knowledge of things. But
the one constant in Salem is
gonna be the lobby.”
In 2017, interest groups
spent $12 million more on
lobbying than they did a
decade earlier, according to
the Oregon Government Eth-
ics Commission.
That spending on lobby-
ing is only part of the cost
of doing political business in
Oregon. Donating to legis-
lators’ campaigns and other
political operations is rou-
tine. Interest groups sank $25
million into last year’s state
elections.
But now the focus is on
trying to shape the laws and
state spending that will touch
every Oregonian.
‘Everyone has
a lobbyist’
Hasina Wittenberg is an
independent lobbyist who
has worked in the Capitol
since 1995.
She mostly represents
businesses such as Schnitzer
Steel Industries and pharma-
ceutical companies.
“Everyone has a lob-
byist, whether or not they
are some high-paid, pow-
er-wielding person who has
notable wins or losses,” Wit-
tenberg said. “Basic associ-
ations have lobbyists, like
AARP, the Humane Society.
The food bank has a lobby-
ist because they want to feed
more people.”
For that money, interest
groups expect to have infl u-
ence, raising the question of
whether lawmakers are vot-
ing on behalf of their constit-
uents back home or for the
interest groups fi lling their
schedules and campaign
coffers.
“At its least harmful, it
creates a signifi cant bias in
what stories legislators hear,”
said John Wonderlich, exec-
utive director of the Sun-
light Foundation, a Wash-
ington, D.C., group that
advocates nationally for open
government.
“Beyond that, it can cer-
tainly become much more
harmful,” Wonderlich said.
“Especially when there’s a
quid pro quo, or an offer of
either supporting on the basis
of a decision, or withholding
support in order to prevent a
decision from happening.”
Common Cause Oregon,
a nonpartisan public inter-
est group, has studied lobby-
ing at the Capitol in the past,
but in recent years has turned
its focus to expanding voting
access and campaign fi nance
reform, said Kate Titus, the
group’s executive director.
A review of lobby expen-
diture reports from 2017
showed that the top spender
was the Oregon Association
of Realtors at $864,500.
The Realtors had two top
priorities at the 2017 Legis-
lature, according to lobbyist
Shawn Cleave.
They fought legislation
that would have allowed cit-
ies and counties to cap rent
increases, while support-
ing legislation creating a tax
deduction and savings pro-
gram for Oregonians buying
their fi rst homes.
That local rent cap idea
didn’t pass, after a defi n-
ing vote in the Senate in
which four Democrats joined
Republicans in opposition.
The most vocal Democratic
opponent was then-Sen. Rod
Monroe of Portland.
“Rent control ultimately
reduces the supply of low-in-
come housing and will actu-
ally make the problem worse
than better,” Monroe said in
an interview explaining his
stand.
Last year, the Realtors
stuck with Monroe as he
sought re-election, donating
$19,000 to Monroe’s cam-
paign and spending another
$200,000 to fend off a pri-
mary challenge from Shemia
Fagan. She won.
“He stuck his neck out on
an issue that was important to
us,” Cleave said. “He under-
stands the economic con-
cerns that come along with
rent control, and we wanted
to demonstrate to him that
we support his position, and
we support his re-election.
Unfortunately, we weren’t
successful there.”
Just this week, the Leg-
islature approved statewide
rent controls that were signed
into law by Brown.
Subtle effect
Not all lobbying is about
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backing or fi ghting a pro-
posal. Often, the political
work focuses on amend-
ing legislation in detailed
ways that often escape pub-
lic attention.
“I think the effect on leg-
islators is more subtle than
some people think,” said
Sen. Jeff Golden, D-Ashland.
“People don’t walk in here
with big bags of money and
say, ‘Here’s how you gotta
vote.’ I think it’s more subtle
than that.”
Golden said at times it can
be hard for lawmakers to not
consider campaign donors’
interests before casting a
vote.
Associations increasingly
recognize the importance of
being active at the Capitol,
such as the Oregon Nurses
Association. Between 2007
and 2017, the amount the
association spent on lobby-
ing more than doubled, pub-
lic reports show.
The group ranked third in
lobbying spending in 2017,
shelling out $416,362. A
decade earlier, it ranked 19th,
spending $194,412.
Kevin Mealy, a spokes-
man for the Oregon Nurses
Association, said in the past
decade membership rose
from 11,000 to 15,000. Those
members have increas-
ingly taken on new roles,
such as nurse practitioners,
home care nurses and school
nurses.
Mealy said that in 2015,
the association decided to
expand its political interests
beyond direct health care to
livability issues such as edu-
cation, housing and clean air
and water.
Groups such as the nurses
association also deploy their
members as a lobbying
force, picking one day for
members to fl ood the Capi-
tol, shake hands, and make
their points with legislators.
In recent days, the advocacy
days were conducted by the
Oregon School-Based Health
Alliance and the Northwest
Credit Union Association.
Some bring hundreds,
others thousands, armed with
signs and matching T-shirts.
They set up shop in the
Capitol hallway, giving out
everything from cookies to
scarves.
The nurses association
reimburses its members for
travel costs to get to Salem,
said Martin Taylor, the orga-
nization’s executive direc-
tor. Earlier this month, 125
nurses showed up to lobby
for the day.
When such one-day advo-
cates go home, the paid lob-
byists stay behind to tend to
legislation and legislators.
Lobbyists are considered
by legislators and their staffs
as vital sources of informa-
tion to explain what legisla-
tion would do — or not do.
A good lobbyist shares
their client’s perspective —
and the opposition’s, Witten-
berg said.
“We have this wealth of
information and a tremen-
dous amount of knowledge
based upon longevity,” said
Wittenberg.
“A reputation is the only
thing you can protect as a
lobbyist,” Wittenberg said.
“If you are dishonest, uneth-
ical and don’t tell the full
story, people will eventually
see through that.”
‘Advocacy process’
“To be a lobbyist is not to
do evil,” said Phil Keisling,
director of the Center for
Public Service at the Mark
Hatfi eld School of Govern-
ment at Portland State Uni-
versity. “It’s an advocacy
process.”
Some are infl uential
because they’re persuasive.
Keisling worked in the
Legislature as an assistant
to then-Speaker Vera Katz
in the late 1980s, served one
term in the House and was
secretary of state from 1991
to 1999.
In his experience, the
most effective lobbyists pro-
vided lawmakers the best
argument against their own
position and then refute it.
According to Wonderlich,
state lawmakers generally
have fewer staff to evaluate
legislation.
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