Georgia lobbyists dig deep to feed lawmakers at bill-writing meetings
Lobbyists for some of the state’s most powerful companies — including Aflac, AT&T, Georgia Power and UPS — dug deep last month to feed top state lawmakers attending a policy conference in Savannah put on by the corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council.
Georgia lobbyists have so far reported spending about $4,000 on meals for lawmakers attending the get-together sponsored by ALEC, a national organization that writes “model legislation” that legislators typically file across the country.
The ALEC summit got unwanted publicity last month when WXIA-TV reported being barred from meetings at the event, despite the fact that state lawmakers were attending.
ALEC has been called a corporate bill mill by critics, but its conservative legislation has been standard fare in the Georgia General Assembly for more than a decade. In the past, lawmakers have even announced that their bills are “ALEC legislation” on the House and Senate floor.
While neither ALEC nor lobbyists not registered in Georgia disclose what they spend at events such as the Savannah summit, Georgia lobbyists do.
In their latest filings, the biggest ALEC-related expense was the $3,500 that 18 lobbyists reported spending for a “delegation dinner” and reception for Georgia lawmakers. Under state law, lobbyists can’t spend more than $75 on a meal for lawmakers. But in the most recent iteration of state ethics laws, legislative leaders exempted group events, such as the delegation dinner, from spending caps.
Among those footing the tab were lobbyists for title loan giant Select Management Resources, Aflac, AGL Resources, AT&T, Cancer Treatment Centers of America, Charter Communications, General Electric, the Georgia Chemistry Council, Georgia Power and UPS.
Aflac’s lobbyist listed “goodwill/insurance matters” as the purpose for his participation in the dinner. None of the other lobbyists listed anything under the section allocated for them to say what legislation was discussed.
Among those attending the summit were recently-elected House Majority Leader Jon Burns, R-Newington; House Ways & Means Chairman Jay Powell, R-Camila; and former House Appropriations Chairman Ben Harbin, R-Evans.
State lobbyists frequently travel to ALEC conferences to make sure Georgia’s politicians are well-fed. Some of the same lobbyists paid for meals for Georgia legislators at ALEC events in Chicago and Washington in 2013. In 2010, records show, Georgia lobbyists spent more than $12,000 on lawmakers at ALEC meetings and conferences in San Diego and Washington.
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