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Talking Politics
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

READ: Beacon Hill's top lobbyists. By David S. Bernstein on his Talking Politics blog.

Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

The 25 biggest lobbying firms in the state (those who work on behalf of multiple clients) collected just under $25 million in lobbying fees last year — roughly a million dollars less than in 2008, according to a Phoenix review of disclosure reports.

And the top 25 spenders (companies and associations trying to wield influence) shelled out roughly $10.5 million on lobbying salaries and expenses, down from about $12 million in 2008.

But if you looked closely at the special-interests with a lot at stake under the Golden Dome last year, there was still plenty of money being thrown around.

Atop that list of splurgers was the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), which spent $1.3 million on lobbying activity in 2009. That's a whopping 75 percent increase over 2008 — making it the number-one spender on lobbying last year.

The MTA had a busy, busy 2009. Early on, it fought to maintain local education funding in the state budget — and to raise sales taxes to provide the revenue. It even spent $22,000 on a radio ad to aid in that battle, which it ultimately won.

As the year went on, the MTA lobbied on a number of proposals, including pension and lobbying reform — but really went into overdrive against Governor Deval Patrick's education-reform legislation. Despite the teachers' best efforts, that bill was signed into law a few weeks ago, and it included many of the charter-school and underperforming-school provisions the MTA opposed.

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Talking Politics
Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

READ: Beacon Hill's top lobbyists. By David S. Bernstein on his Talking Politics blog.

Nearly everyone in Massachusetts felt the pinch of the recession in 2009 — even Beacon Hill lobbyists had to tighten their belts.

The 25 biggest lobbying firms in the state (those who work on behalf of multiple clients) collected just under $25 million in lobbying fees last year — roughly a million dollars less than in 2008, according to a Phoenix review of disclosure reports.

And the top 25 spenders (companies and associations trying to wield influence) shelled out roughly $10.5 million on lobbying salaries and expenses, down from about $12 million in 2008.

But if you looked closely at the special-interests with a lot at stake under the Golden Dome last year, there was still plenty of money being thrown around.

Atop that list of splurgers was the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA), which spent $1.3 million on lobbying activity in 2009. That's a whopping 75 percent increase over 2008 — making it the number-one spender on lobbying last year.

The MTA had a busy, busy 2009. Early on, it fought to maintain local education funding in the state budget — and to raise sales taxes to provide the revenue. It even spent $22,000 on a radio ad to aid in that battle, which it ultimately won.

As the year went on, the MTA lobbied on a number of proposals, including pension and lobbying reform — but really went into overdrive against Governor Deval Patrick's education-reform legislation. Despite the teachers' best efforts, that bill was signed into law a few weeks ago, and it included many of the charter-school and underperforming-school provisions the MTA opposed.

Read more

H-2 Woes Dept.
The freedom to vacation before wrapping up vital work is just one perk of holding statewide office.

The freedom to vacation before wrapping up vital work is just one perk of holding statewide office. Beacon Hill legislators also enjoy an endless flow of taxpayer-funded spring water. (Nearly every room in the State House has a bubbler; there’s even a cooler on the Senate floor to offset the magnificent marble busts.) Same goes for other commonwealth employees, who together drain more than a half-million dollars worth of five-gallon jugs each year.

Expressing fiscal and environmental concerns, activists with the Boston-based Corporate Accountability International (CAI) gathered on Beacon Street this past week to coax lawmakers into setting a better example. CAI operatives with the “Getting States Off the Bottle” campaign allege “the marketing of bottled water has eroded public confidence in our tap water”; indeed, confidence levels are especially dismal beneath the Golden Dome, where ancient pipes pollute the supply.

Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs spokesperson Lisa Capone says her administration is exploring alternatives. Citing an executive order that Governor Deval Patrick signed this past October to reduce waste by using EPA-designated Environmentally Preferred Products, Capone says that, when the current million-dollar Massachusetts contract with Atlanta-based DS Waters expires in April, operational services will procure more cost-efficient reverse-osmosis and filtration systems. The state invested $150,000 in such technologies in FY09, but still spent more than three times that on bottled water.

It could be easy to banish bubblers at some state agencies that are not situated on Beacon Hill; activists especially hope that major consumers, including the departments of revenue, correction, and social services, will follow the lead of the state court system, which, in a budget-cutting measure, recently canceled $200,000 in bottled-water contracts.

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