Lobby up for 2014

The 2014 legislative session is about to begin and, in seasonal spirit, business associations and their hired lobbyists have been sending out invitations to cozy up with legislators at the beginning of the session.

The courtship between lobbyists and legislators is almost always performed over meals, the two most popular of which are the “welcome breakfast” and the “informational luncheon.” Lobbyists, of course, want to make sure as many legislators as possible come to their events and listen to what they want accomplished (and not accomplished) this session, while legislators, like anyone else, enjoy free food.

In case you missed your invite, here’s a digest of some recent legislative shindigs.

Monday, January 6: The Hawaii Food Industry Association and Hawaii Restaurant Association invited legislators to a “talk story.” Ironically, this was the only invite we heard about that did not promise a full meal to legislators, instead offering mere “snacks.” In 2012, HIFA spent just over $25,000, almost all of which was paid to the Executive Director, Lauren Zirbel’s company, LSZ Consulting for lobbying compensation.

Tuesday, January 7: The Pacific Resource Partnership—the powerful trade union associated with the local carpenters union—invited legislators to honor the 2014 Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters Outstanding Union Builder at their annual reception at the Oʻahu Country Club. PRP supports the Thirty-Meter Telescope (TMT) project on Mauna Kea as well as Rail, and has the resources to make serious attempts at influence over these and other construction-related projects and policies. The union’s lobbying reports for 2012 show they only spent roughly $10,727, divided up between lobbying compensation and food and beverage expenditures, but say nothing of the well-documented campaign advertising expenditures that show the union’s real influence. During the 2012 Honolulu mayoral elections, the union funded the well-known July attack ad linking anti-Rail candidate Ben Cayetano with a “pay-to-play” culture, indirectly lobbying for Rail in the process. By August of that year, the union had spent roughly $1.3 million on pro-rail and anti-Cayetano ads.

Tuesday, January 7: The Hawaii Association of Realtors sent a group of representatives to meet with legislators about their priorities for this year and invited them to an evening reception at the Capitol District Building’s Grand Cafe. The Grand Cafe is a revamp of a 1920s Hotel Street cafe by the same name. Rumor has it that eating here transports you back in time to an era in which a different party governed Hawaiʻi—though just as exclusively. HAR appears to have spent just over $30,407 on lobbying in 2012.

Wednesday, January 8: Representatives Della Bellati and Josh Green sponsored an informational session with the Hawaiʻi Chapter of the American Physical Therapists Association, which represents 250 physical therapists in the state. You might need physical therapy too after ingesting all that free food—had you been invited which, of course, you weren’t. The most recent HAPTA reports in the HEC database are from Jan–April of 2011 and show the association spent a mere $1,295.09.

Thursday, January 9: The Hawaii Dental Association, which represents the vast majority of practicing dentists in Hawaiʻi, invited senators to a buffet breakfast, also at the Grand Cafe. No doubt there are many enamel-related policies that ought to be put in place after sampling the cafe’s baked sweets. The only record available for HDA, from March–April of 2013, shows the association spent exactly $10,000, all of which went to a Russell Yamashita for lobbying compensation.

Tuesday, January 14: The Building Industry Association (whose membership includes contractors, developers, suppliers, bankers, designers, realtors, architects and other professional associates involved in the building and construction industry) wants to share its “legislative priorities” with legislators over breakfast. The HEC only has filings as recent as April 2012 online and records that, from January–April 2012, BIA spent just over $10,000.

Tuesday January 14: The Hawaii State Association of Counties—representing the Kauaʻi, Honolulu, Maui and Hawaiʻi county councils—will present a legislative package of three bills all four councils agreed to endorse. These include: a bill to protect the counties from liability over warning the public about dangers on Improved Public Lands; a bill allowing counties to declare certain roads “in limbo,” thereby protecting them from liability over lack of maintenance; and a bill that would provide funding to the Hilo Medical Center’s primary care training program, which aims to train physicians to serve rural and underrepresented areas across the state. HSAC has no records with the HEC, suggesting they spend no money on their lobbying.

Thursday, January 16: The Hawaii Automobile Dealers Association presents a lunch, catered by Kakaako Kitchen, while visions of pastrami sandwiches dance in my head. In 2012 HADA spent roughly $34,606, and from January–April of 2013 roughly $12,443.

Tuesday, January 28: The Junior League of Hawaii, which has focused on the empowerment of women and girls, will provide a continental breakfasts and “lively conversation” on this year’s focus point for the group: human trafficking.  JLH is also a non-profit and does not appear in the HEC’s database.