My latest musings involve our legislative processes both at
the State and Federal level. My lobbyist
friends may not like what follows. There was time, not long ago when our legislators
owed their fealty to their constituents and to their party. It now seems that loyalties are owed more to
special interests than their constituents.
I have three examples for your consideration.
At the last Western Stock show, I sat down at a table with a
lobbyist I have known for many years. He
told me he was meeting his client and that I would also enjoy meeting her. The client was our Governor’s point person
who chaired the committee which finds Colorado citizens to serve on Boards and
Commissions. When I asked why this committee needs a lobbyist, I was told that
the Governor needed a person at the legislature to lobby for his
appointments. So as a taxpayer, I am
paying for a lobbyist to communicate with elected representatives to approve
other citizens to serve on largely non-paying boards and commissions in case
special interest groups might object. Just recently I read in the Denver Post that
the Secretary of State announced that he had neither the budget nor personnel
to regulate the lobbying industry. The
legislature did pass a body of regulations to govern lobbyists but right now it
barely serves to register the lobbyists and see to it that they pay their
nominal registration fees. Everyday we
see the work of lobbyists whether it is over rain barrels, sales of wine in
grocery stores or the ban on marijuana edibles.
Could it be that we have abandoned our Republic for a body of special
interest handmaidens called lobbyists who have little to no oversight?
The second example is at the Federal level. Surprisingly
there is strong bipartisan support for the Sentencing Reform Act of 2015. The bipartisan support is composed of a
coalition of strange bedfellows. It
unleashes the lobbying forces of the nation’s most prominent conservative and
progressive organizations, over 200 in number, to bring about sentencing reform.
The legislation is, however, being held up by, a small but apparently equally
strong lobbying force of a special interest group out to protect business in
general and the financial industry specifically, from white collar crime
prosecution. The amendment would require
an element of proof (mens rea, a conscious awareness of one’s actions) in all white-collar
collar prosecution. This special
interest group wants to insert this unrelated provision in the Sentencing bill
to mostly protect a small group of corporate executives. So we have another example of a legislative
body deferring to a special interest rather than the constituency at large.
Just one more example of lobbying abuse in DC. There is an army of lobbyist regularly
appearing before and supplying information to the various agencies charged with
providing detailed regulation to enforce acts of Congress. I often hear the argument made of
overregulation that strangles business and innovation. Perhaps we should consider reforming the
administrative process and relieving the administrative agencies from lobbying
pressures.
These are just a few examples of how I believe our
legislative process is being overrun with special interest and lobbyists. What are your thoughts on our current state
of the state relating to these matters?
