Lobbyists can still give to lawmakers

Lobbyists banned from making personal contributions to lawmakers are still finding a way to get money to them through political action committees.
Lawmakers left open avenues for lobbyists to give money through political action committees when they enacted the ban on personal contributions in 2006.
For example, husband-and-wife lobbying team Nathan and Laura Robinson Green on June 29 gave $1,000 each to their nearly depleted PAC which on the same day gave $2,000 to Republican Senate Speaker Ron Ramsey’s gubernatorial campaign.
Drew Rawlins, executive director of the Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance, said it is legal to set up PACs that donate to candidates. The practice has existed since before the 2006 changes to state ethics laws.
The law also allows lobbyists to continue giving to “leadership PACs’’ run by lawmakers, including three by current gubernatorial candidates.
Lobbyist Mark Greene, whose clients include the Tennessee Lobbyist Association, had given contributions to at least four leadership PACs. “It’s a way for me to stay competitive,’’ he said.
Green said the 2006 law to ban personal contributions was popular among many lobbyists because they had traditionally be harangued by lawmakers for donations when elections season started heating up.
Tony Gottlieb, a volunteer lobbyist who has been fined for making $225 in contributions to Republican Rep. Stacy Campfield of Knoxville, said the current rules don’t accomplish their goals.
“The ethics reform act was ostensibly created to keep lobbyists from corrupting the political process with campaign contributions,’’ he said. “It’s done nothing of the kind. It’s just a big charade.’’
Gottlieb said he was unpaid while working for DAD, an advocacy group for fathers’ rights in custody disputes. Campfield returned Gottlieb’s contributions.