|
TOP
20 HIRED GUN LOBBYISTS |
1 |
Bill Messer
Texas Lobby Group, Former State Representative
|
2 |
Neal
T. "Buddy" Jones
Hillco Partners, Former State Representative,
Executive Assistant to Speaker |
3 |
Rusty
Kelley
Public Strategies, Former Executive Assistant to Speaker,
House Sgt. at Arms |
4 |
David Sibley
Former State Senator, Waco Mayor |
5 |
Randy Erben
Former Office of State-Federal Relations Director,
Assistant Secretary of State |
6 |
Elton Bomer
Former State Representative, Insurance Commissioner,
Secretary of State |
7 |
Galt Graydon
Graydon Group, Former Senate Aide, Senate Investigating
Committee Counsel |
8 |
J.E. "Buster"
Brown
Former State Senator, Former Assistant District
Attorney |
9 |
Demetrius
McDaniel
Akin Gump, Former Department of Agriculture Special
Assistant, House Aide |
10 |
Gib Lewis
Business Partners LTD, Former House Speaker,
City Council Member |
11 |
Gaylord
Armstrong
McGinnis Lochgridge & Kilgore, Campaign Finance Consultant,
Former Congressional Aide |
12 |
Dick
Brown
Former Texas Municipal League Executive Director
|
13 |
Stan
Schlueter
The Schlueter Group, Former State Representative
|
14 |
Jim
Warren
Former Aide to Secretary of State, Campaign
Consultant |
15 |
Mignon
McGarry
Former State Senate Aide |
16 |
Gordon
Johnson, Rob Johnson
Johnson & Johnson |
17 |
Jack Roberts
Former Deputy Comptroller |
18 |
Clint Hackney
Former State Representative |
19 |
Steve
Bresnen
Former General Counsel to Lieutenant Governor,
Former Aide to Comptroller |
20 |
Ron
Lewis
Former State Representative |
|
TOP 5 SINGLE-CLIENT LOBBYISTS |
1 |
Mike
McKinney
Wholesale Beer Distributors |
2 |
John
Fainter
Association of Electric Companies |
3 |
Bill Hammond
Texas Association of Business |
4 |
Rick
Donley
Beer Alliance of Texas |
5 |
Jeff Bonham
CenterPoint Energy |
|
TOP
5 CONSULTANTS WHO LOBBY |
1 |
Reggie Bashur
Bashur, Carney & Sullivan |
2 |
Bill
Miller
Hillco |
3 |
Ray
Sullivan
Bashur, Carney & Sullivan |
4 |
Bryan
Eppstein
Bryan Eppstein & Company |
5 |
Nick
Voinis
Public Strategies |
|
TOP LAW FIRM LOBBY PRACTICES |
1 |
Locke
Liddell & Sapp
Gary Compton, Bill Jones, Bruce LaBoon, Yuniedth
Midence, Robert Miller, Alan Waldrop |
2 |
Akin
Gump
Sandy Kress, Melissa Irion, Demetrius McDaniel, John Pitts,
Jody Richardson |
3 |
Hughes
Luce
John Erskine, Myra Leo, Larry McGinnis, Marc
Shivers |
4 |
Gardere
Wynne Sewell
A.W. (Woody) Pogue, Carl Richie, Robert Spellings, Kimberly
Yelkin |
5 |
Bracewell
Patterson
Jim Chapman, Mindy Ellmer, Pat Oxford, David Thompson,
Jill Warren |
6 |
Vinson
& Elkins
Joe Bill Watkins |
7 |
Jackson
Walker
Zack Brady, Kathy Hutto, Ed Small
|
8 |
Loeffler,
Jonas & Tuggey
Allen Beinke, James Jonas, Lisa Mayes |
9 |
Winstead,
Sechrest & Minick
Robert Bass, Janis Carter, Forrest Roan |
10 |
McGinnis,
Lochridge & Kilgore
Gaylord Armstrong, Campbell McGinnis, Keith Strama |
10 |
Kemp
Smith
Clyde Alexander, Thomas Forbes |
|
TOP
5 LOBBY
TEAMS |
1 |
Public
Strategies
Joey Bennett, Rusty Kelley, Carol McGarah |
2 |
Hillco
Partners
David Anderson, Hector Gutierrez, Jay Howard, Neal T.
"Buddy" Jones, Bill Miller, J. McCartt, Dan
Pearson, Clint Smith |
3 |
Graydon
Group
Jay Brown, Galt Graydon, Machree Gibson, Jay Propes, Shannon
Swan |
4 |
Texas
Lobby Group
Lara Laneri Keel, Bill Messer, Ellen Williams |
5 |
Capital
Consultants
Chuck Bailey, Billy Clayton, Hector Uribe |
|
January 23, 2004
View from the Owners' Box:
Capitol Inside Unveils Lobby
Rankings on 1st Anniversary
Education
Lobby Gains Power with Special
School Finance Session on Horizon
Best
New Lobby Group: The Ratliff Company
Lobby
Battles to Watch at the Texas Capitol in 2004
By Mike Hailey
Capitol
Inside Editor
When
the Rio Nuevo partnership in Midland needed permission from the
Texas Legislature to transport water pumped from aquifers down the
Rio Grande, what did the group of investors have in common with
State Farm Insurance last year? When State Farm needed emergency
help to battle a blaze sparked by political rhetoric about rate
shock, what common thread did the firm share with the Texans for
Lawsuit Reform? When TLR looked to the free-agent market for help
in the fight over medical malpractice liability and tort reform,
what common denominator did its leaders have with Texas House Speaker
Tom Craddick?
The answer to all of the above is the same:
They all had Bill Messer to get the job done.
They
usually knew where to find the former House Calendars chairman because
he always seemed to be somewhere in the vicinity of the second floor
hallway behind the House of Representatives. That's where Craddick
has an office - and that's where Messer spent a significant amount
of his valuable time while guiding his former House colleague through
an often-tumultuous first season as the chamber's first Republican
presiding officer in more than 130 years.
Since representing
Belton as a Democrat for eight years in the 1980's, the short, unassuming
lawyer has been a powerful force in the Capitol lobby. But in 2003
he had to split time between four dozen high-dollar clients and the
speaker - who depended on him from the start when he chose Messer
as one of three lobbyists to oversee his transition from a veteran
representative to the presiding officer's job. Whether
the heat was on over tort reform, the state budget or redistricting,
Craddick continued to turn to Messer for a calm and intellectual
but down-to-earth perspective on the intricate problems he faced
day to day. Messer was the unofficial chief of staff that the speaker
didn't think he would need - and he enjoyed a level of influence
and access that few if any members of the lobby or the Legislature
for that matter ever imagine much less achieve. That experience
helped him vault from fourth place to first on the list of top hired
gun lobbyists in Capitol Inside's 2nd Annual Texas Lobby Power Rankings.
Today
marks the first anniversary of Capitol Inside's debut on the World
Wide Web. We kicked it all off that very first day with the original
lobby power rankings as the centerpiece story - and now we're celebrating
the first day of our second year by unveiling an updated package
that's bigger and better even than the inaugural version. And while
Capitol Inside was a spur-of-the-moment creation in unexplored terrain,
we can say now with immeasurable confidence that we will publish
the third annual lobby rankings exactly one year from today. Hence,
a tradition is born.
Sizing
up the lobby proved to be an appropriate way to launch our coverage
of the Capitol at a time when power was about to be wielded like
never before. With the changing of the partisan guard in the Texas
House, the acclimation of the Senate to a new style of leadership
and the maturing of a governor who's probably more sympathetic to
the lobby's concerns than any of his modern-day predecessors were,
the Texas Capitol became an unplowed field of opportunity for lobbyists
in 2003. They found innovative ways to create bills and roads that
had not been taken down which to shepherd landmark legislation through
perfect storms. The most influential lobbyists had maximum cooperation
from the leadership. It was a bad year for the economy outside the
beltway, and state government spent much of 2003 in the deepest
budget hole in Texas history. But the lobby remained relatively
immune from the downturn and its top members prospered while finding
more doors open than they'd known before.
It was
the year of the owner's box - when the roughest, toughest and most
amazingly effective group of lobbyists in town could be found in
their regular seats in the gallery above the House floor - where
the members on the floor below could see them and maybe think twice
before casting a vote. The Texans for Lawsuit Reform raised the
bar of success for team lobbying while giving new meaning to the
analogy that politics is a contact sport that's not for the fein
of heart. TLR's point men in Austin were among more than 1,600 lobbyists
who were registered to do business at the Texas Capitol in 2003.
It was a year in which advocates for businesses, lawyers, education
and other concerns ignored the bad economy outside the beltway while
jockeying seats at the new table where they hoped to feast in Republican
style.
The
Hired Guns
Bill
Messer passed three of the most successful lobbyists of the past
generation in his ascension to the number one ranking in our first
category - the top 20 hired gun lobbyists going into 2004. A compelling
case for the top spot could bee made for Neal T. "Buddy"
Jones, the former House member and Hillco Partners co-founder who
moved from third up to second on the new rankings in the wake of
another banner year. A Democrat who hailed from Hillsboro while
serving in the House with Messer, Jones represented 56 clients that
included big businesses, family businesses, school districts, river
authorities, hospitals, firemen and other public employees. He was
a key player at the heart of the debate on the high-priority issues
from homeowners' insurance reform to homebuilder regulation. He
helped defuse a powder keg situation over high-speed online access.
He led interference for the Dallas Cowboys in a pitch for public
help for a new playing field and surrounding entertainment complex.
He did so good that he passed Rusty Kelley - who still to this day
may be the most successful lobbyist who ever worked the halls of
the Capitol. He's still one of the best in the business - as his
number three ranking on the new CI list suggests. A former House
sergeant at arms and top aide to Speaker Billy Clayton, Kelley worked
independently before joining Public Strategies, where he directs
the public affairs section. He was the eyes and ears at the Capitol
for 58 clients in 2003.
The
Rest of the Best
The rankings
once again feature the category gauging the top lobbyists who have
the ability to take on as many different clients and issues as they
so choose. They are also known as hired guns. Some are members of
lobbying groups. Some belong to law firms. Some work for themselves.
The category
has been expanded from 15 a year ago to 20 on this year's list.
The
second and third categories also appeared on the original lobby
rankings last year. The top five single-client lobbyists are focused
in a specific area of policy-setting and answer to only one boss
- usually an employer. The top five consultants who lobby are diverse
professionals who are generally known as communications and-or campaign
consultants first and lobbyists second. Every lobbyist on the single-client
and consultant-lobbyist list operates on the same level of power
as the top 20 hired guns. The 2004 edition includes several new
categories as well: the top five lobby teams, top five law firm
lobby practices, top five associations that lobby and a special
report on former government education experts who are quickly gaining
more power in the months leading up to an expected special session
on public school finance.
The
Art of Ranking Lobbyists
The Texas
Lobby Power Rankings are based on a subjective and unscientific
system of information gathering from a small group of selective
advisors that includes members of the Legislature, the press, the
consulting business or the lobby itself. Factors such as the amount
of compensation and the number of clients a lobbyist reports to
the Texas Ethics Commission are incorporated into the decision-making
process along with a number of intangible variables such as a lobbyist's
connections, overall access, reputation, experience - and in even-numbered
years like this - actual track record during the legislative session
(or sessions) of the previous calendar year.
As your
eyes scroll down the new lists, you will inevitably disagree with
some of the names on the screen before you and wonder why certain
others aren't there instead. Keep in mind what we said a year ago
- success as a lobbyist can't be calculated by the amount of money
somebody makes or the sheer number of clients they report or the
marquee nature of their Rolodex. The Texas Lobby Power Rankings
are not portending to say who is the best lobbyist in town or the
nicest or the busiest. This is all about power - and that's an art
- not a science. |