Lobbyists, not just lawmakers, descend on Raleigh as new session begins

The lobbyist for the city of Charlotte welcomed Gerry Cohen to the ranks of the professional influencers Wednesday.

“Welcome to the dark side,” Dana C. Fenton said as he shook hands with Cohen, a former legislative employee who retired last year after nearly four decades working for lawmakers.

Cohen moved around the legislative complex Wednesday as a new lobbyist, shaking hands and handing out fresh business cards from his new employer: Nelson Mullins, a law firm with a lobbying arm. He joked that he’d heard many other “dark side” references as the day wore on. He started joking about it himself.

Lawmakers filled the chambers of the Legislative Building for the start of a new session. But the day also launched the intense work of lobbyists, who will spend the next months shaping new laws.

With 443 lobbyists registered with the N.C. Secretary of State’s office as of Monday, the lobbyists outnumber lawmakers by a ratio of more than 2-to-1. More will register as the session cranks up.

While the state’s part-time lawmakers get much of the attention and cast the deciding votes, many ideas for new laws come from the lobbyists and their employers, which cover all sorts of interests, large and small. With permission from legislators, lobbyists can submit suggested bill language to legislative staffers – words that end up in bills and laws.

Cohen has a long history of working with lawmakers and legislative staff. He was a key figure in General Assembly operations. He ran the important bill drafting office for 31 of his 37 years in state government. He figures he hired most of the people working in bill drafting.

At his retirement party last summer, Republicans and Democrats praised Cohen for working hard to help them, no matter their party.

“I hope my reputation will carry over in this,” Cohen said Wednesday.

Some lawmakers asked if they could still come to Cohen with their questions.

Legislative fixtures

Cohen said many in the public likely are suspicious of lobbyists and he probably had it in his head – before he started working at the legislature – that lobbyists were evil.

But he soon changed his view.

“I viewed lobbyists as a useful source of information as long as it was presented accurately and truthfully,” he said.

Many are fixtures at the legislative complex. The audience of lobbyists watching legislative committees in action is often larger than the committees.

Early Wednesday morning, lobbyists crowded the hallways outside the House chamber, there to shake hands and congratulate new and returning members before the opening gavel fell.

Cohen was making the rounds, too.

“Nobody has more knowledge of how this place works than you,” said Sen. Mike Woodard, a Durham Democrat, told Cohen.

Cohen said he has been meeting with potential clients and expects to represent six or seven in the session. He declined to name them, in case some don’t come through.

Ex-lawmakers, staffers

Prior connections to the legislature are an asset to lobbyists, with former politicians and former staff members swelling the ranks – and seen as among the most effective.

Former two-term House Speaker Harold Brubaker, a Republican, was named the most influential lobbyist in the latest ranking by the N.C. Center for Public Policy Research, which surveys legislators, other lobbyists, and reporters. Toward the end of his 18 House terms, Brubaker mentored former House Speaker and now U.S. Sen. Thom Tillis.

Ranked second most influential was Dana Simpson, a former aide to Brubaker when he was speaker.

Other top-ranked lobbyists: Former Raleigh mayor and state GOP Chairman Tom Fetzer; former Democratic House member Jim Harrell; Lori Ann Harris, an aide to Democratic Sen. Dan Blue when he was House Speaker; and former Republican Sen. Richard Stevens of Cary.

Former Democratic Lt. Gov. Dennis Wicker leads the Nelson Mullins lobbying team Cohen joined. It also includes Peter Hans, a former staffer to congressional Republicans from North Carolina and a member of the UNC Board of Governors.

Just in the last week, former Raleigh Mayor Paul Coble announced he would begin lobbying, and former House Majority Leader Edgar Starnes, a Republican, was sworn in and then resigned to work in the state Treasurer’s office in what is essentially a lobbying job.

State law sets a six-month cooling off period for legislators who move from making laws to lobbying their colleagues. Over the years, there’s been talk of imposing a similar cooling-off period for high level government staff.

Jane Pinsky, a former lobbyist and director of the N.C. Coalition for Lobbying and Government Reform, said she sees no problem with Cohen lobbying the executive branch, but she’s uncertain about him doing it in the legislature.

“Gerry is in an unusual situation,” she said. “He’s been here for 35 years. He knows every single member and every single staff person.”

Cohen points out that he’s about a week shy of his six-month retirement date, and there are plenty of new people he doesn’t know.

He’d heard chatter that was critical of legislative employees before him who jumped directly from government work to lobbying. Cohen said he thought even then that cooling-off periods for former employees are unfair.

People still need to make a living after they leave government, he said.

This story was originally published January 14, 2015 at 7:44 PM with the headline "Lobbyists, not just lawmakers, descend on Raleigh as new session begins."