State's top lobbyists resign to keep clout

From the Chicago Tribune:

State's top lobbyists resign to keep clout
Many quit registry to keep board jobs under ethics plan

By Ray Long and Christi Parsons, Tribune staff reporters. Tribune staff reporter Kate McCann contributed to this report
Published June 19, 2003

SPRINGFIELD -- He is a longtime insider who has moved fluidly within the corridors of Illinois political power for years, but Metra chief Jeffrey Ladd recently withdrew from the official ranks of those who seek to influence state decision-makers.

The same goes for Gary Skoien and Guy Chipparoni, both established political fixtures who no longer wish to have their names appear on the state's list of registered lobbyists.

Lately, it seems, lots of established political players, particularly old-line Republicans, have been vanishing from the secretary of state's lobbyist rolls faster than workers fleeing the office on a sunny day.

Call it the case of the disappearing lobbyists. The reason? Lawmakers approved a wide-ranging set of ethics measures last month that would present dozens of registered lobbyists with a choice: Either quit work as a paid advocate or give up the right to serve on some of the state's most powerful boards and commissions.

More than 30 people have dropped off the lobbying rolls since April, with many of them citing the ethics bill as the reason.

To inform the public, the state requires the registration of those who work to influence legislators, administrators and other state officials. Violators could be fined up to $10,000 and be barred for three years from lobbying, but enforcement is lax.

One reason is that it is so hard to pin down what constitutes lobbying. For example, attorneys who represent clients on regulatory or other governmental issues could be acting as lobbyists or simply doing their jobs as lawyers.

Many longtime lobbyists are now rethinking how to define themselves. In the state's sprawling public university system alone, more than a dozen registered lobbyists--including representatives of gambling interests--serve as board members of various schools. As many as 70 other lobbyists, serving on panels from the Illinois Racing Board to the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board, could be forced to make the difficult choice.

For many, their strategy is to hope the legislation never becomes law. That is a possibility because Gov. Rod Blagojevich has used his authority to rewrite the bill and wants legislators to sign off on far more sweeping reforms than they earlier approved.

But others aren't taking that chance. They're forfeiting the right to lobby--or, at the very least, simply deciding that what they do isn't lobbying to begin with and therefore, they don't belong on a list of state lobbyists. Before the recent departures, the roster contained 2,800 names.

Although the vast majority of boards and commissions pay little more than expenses, membership is prestigious and can carry certain privileges, including the right to say how public money is spent and to wield influence over big-ticket industries and mammoth public projects.

It's hard to tell if the ethics bill would reduce the influence of connections on Illinois government or merely bring about an amazing alchemy in its use.

"Anybody would be hard-pressed to say I was in Springfield much this year," Chipparoni said. "I went twice."

Chipparoni is a member of the non-paying Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority board and head of a Chicago public relations firm for which, he said, he hires someone else to do the lobbying.

`We felt it was safer'

Like many others, Chipparoni, Ladd and Skoien say they registered as lobbyists just to be on the safe side. Ladd had been registered to lobby on behalf of his law firm, Bell, Boyd and Lloyd, as had another member of the firm, Larry Eppley, who chairs the University of Illinois board of trustees. Eppley, too, has recently withdrawn as a lobbyist.

"We felt it was safer before to file [as] a lobbyist, even though neither of us did anything that we felt constitutes lobbying," Ladd said.

Skoien, the Palatine Township Republican committeeman, said he was worried about being forced off the Northern Illinois University board of trustees even though he never lobbies state officials. However, he had been registered to lobby on behalf of a Chicago development group.

"There's absolutely no reason whatsoever to register as a lobbyist," Skoien said. "There's just no lobbying going on."

In fact, the rolls may be packed with others who don't consider themselves lobbyists. Registrations shot up 10 years ago after the legislature passed tougher rules for lobbyists, with many saying they added their names to the list just to be safe.

Now, though, there might be a reason against erring on the side of caution. Under the proposed ban, the only lobbyists who could remain on boards would be those who serve on advisory bodies.

The idea, said authors of the new measure, is that no one should make decisions on behalf of the state on one day, then lobby the state for favors the next.

"The basic idea is that you want business to be conducted on an arm's length basis," said Bill O'Connor, chief of staff for House Republican Leader Tom Cross (R-Oswego), both of whom were key in drafting the ethics bill. "The thought is that you shouldn't be able to leverage your position in one place for the benefit of the other."

Perhaps fittingly, the new measure developed at the end of a spring session where extremely well-connected lobbyists showed what such clout can accomplish in Springfield. William Daley, president of SBC Communications Inc. and the brother of Mayor Richard Daley, hired an army of lobbyists to muscle through controversial legislation designed to give his firm a competitive edge over rivals in the local phone market. A judge has put that plan on hold.

With the possibility of a crackdown hanging over their heads, many members of state boards and commissions are wrestling with how to reconcile their roles as public servant and registered lobbyist.

Giving up public posts

Lobbyist Zack Stamp was appointed by former Gov. George Ryan to the Illinois Court of Claims and also is chairman of Western Illinois University's board of trustees. Stamp said he would give up his public positions. His lobbying clients range from video gaming to insurance companies.

Ed Duffy, a registered horseracing and casino lobbyist, said he would quit as chairman of the Illinois Community College Board and as a member of the Board of Higher Education. "Even if a conflict doesn't exist, if there's a perception of conflict, then I think they need to do what they're doing," he said.

But many others will try to keep their board jobs by changing their lobbying status.

Phil Bradley, director of the Department of Public Aid under former Gov. Jim Edgar, removed his name from the list in hopes of staying on the Health Facilities Planning Board. He said he now hires others to lobby for his Family Health Network, which serves Medicaid clients who want to be part of a managed care program.

John Brewster, a Democrat on the Southern Illinois University board of trustees, withdrew his name from the lobbyist list, saying he registered only because he makes calls on behalf of the university and because a law partner contacts legislators on behalf of a property association that battles with the oil and gas industry.

"I don't know if I'm a lobbyist or not," Brewster said."I just didn't want to cause any embarrassment to the university or myself."

NIU trustee Catherine Adduci, wife of powerful lobbyist Al Ronan, removed her name from the registry as a lobbyist for Unisys Corp. She could not be reached for comment.

Doug Donenfeld, a longtime lobbyist whose law practice now focuses on immigration instead of state issues, said he withdrew as a lobbyist as the ban gained steam this spring. Blagojevich appointed Donenfeld to the board overseeing the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.

Donenfeld also sits on the Chicago Transit Authority board, which counts among its members two registered lobbyists--Sue Leonis, a lobbyist for the village of Rosemont, and Victor Reyes, a key political ally of Mayor Daley who was among those who lobbied for SBC.

Authors of the ethics bill say they intended the restrictions to forbid lobbyists from serving on all agencies and boards created or authorized by state law. But they expect some arguments that the bill shouldn't apply to the CTA, Metra and other boards whose members are picked at least in part by local officials.

As the ranks of lobbyists continue to thin, many board members said they are simply confounded.

"Frankly, I don't know what to do," said Tom Lamont, a lawyer who is registered to represent clients in dealings with the state. Lamont also is on the Board of Higher Education.

Others are relieved, including some longtime lobbyists who said officeholders often hit them up for campaign contributions.

"The best news is, I'm done writing checks," said one registered lobbyist who plans to drop off the list. "It saves me money."