Pre-lobbying may be gap in law

Former lawmaker just a liaison until waiting period ends

RALEIGH -- North Carolina's new lobbying law says legislators must wait six months after leaving office before they can become a lobbyist, which raises this question: What is former Rep. Wilma Sherrill doing?

The answer is: Following the law, which some reformers say reveals a gap in it.

Sherrill, a Buncombe County Republican, did not seek re-election last fall and left office Dec. 31. Now she is working as a liaison between UNC-Asheville and, among others, the General Assembly.

Sherrill said she's not a lobbyist and is not getting paid, but the university plans to start paying her July 1 -- six months after she left office.

"I'm trying to help my community," Sherrill said Wednesday.

The lobbying law, passed last year, includes a "revolving door" provision aimed at preventing legislators from leaving office one day and cashing in as a lobbyist the next. An early version of the legislation created a two-year cooling-off period, which was reduced to one year. The House cut that to six months.

State law, though, distinguishes between a lobbyist and a liaison for a government agency or institution, and the lobbying law does not cover government liaisons.

Sherrill, 67, said she cleared her new role through state government lawyers before taking the job, and she was assured the revolving door rule did not apply to liaisons. Despite that approval, she chose to work as a volunteer for six months.

A university spokeswoman said Sherrill is slated to be paid $79,000 a year starting July 1, six months after leaving office. Sherrill said she is not certain she will stay long enough to start getting paid.

As an external affairs liaison, Sherrill said she is working with a variety of community groups and focusing many of her efforts on helping to raise an additional $7 million for a new health and wellness center at the university. She has traveled to the General Assembly twice since starting her new job, once representing the university and once as a citizen with a Chamber of Commerce delegation.

Sherrill said she will disclose any spending on any legislator, even buying a cup of coffee.

She said she supported a two-year cooling-off period before ex-legislators could lobby. She questioned, though, the idea of singling out legislators for a prohibition on where they can work.

Sherrill's new job exposes a gap in the lobbying law, according to a watchdog group that helped push the law to passage.

Louisa Warren, director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, said government liaisons should be covered by the regulations.

"They are doing the same thing as lobbyists," Warren said.