The federal lobbying scandal centered around Jack
Abramoff, who was recently sentenced to almost six years in prison for
bribery, is unfortunately mirrored by the flow of crooked money into our
statehouses as well. Recent examples are Governor
Bob Taft of Ohio, who pled guilty for not disclosing gifts and golf outings
paid for by lobbyists, and a Tennessee
investigation which led to the arrests of five current and former lawmakers
on charges of accepting bribes, conspiracy, and extortion.
Lobbying at our statehouses is a billion
dollar per year business. In 2004, nearly 47,000 separate groups
hired more than 38,000
lobbyists, for an average of five lobbyists and $130,000 in expenditures
per state legislator. Especially in states with few legislative staff,
this army of lobbyists often becomes the dominant source of policy information
and power -- greased with lobbyist-paid dinners, entertainment, and travel.
To give just one
example, the Center for Public Integrity has highlighted the pharmaceutical
industry's lobbying at the state level, a $44 million operation during 2003
and 2004. And they used the money to
shoot down a wide variety of state reform efforts trying to lower the cost of
prescription drugs for consumers. Dozens
of key lawmakers across the country were given tickets to sporting
events, invited to golf outings, or flown to resorts.
