Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Sarah in the news. Yesterday's Plain Dealer:
High Energy lobbying targets electric bill legislation
Posted by Mark Naymik , October 01, 2007 17:13PM
They showed up to fight over your electric bill. Nearly 100 of them, all with connections to Ohio lawmakers, some wielding Blackberrys, talking points, press releases and even an opinion poll.
So many came that the meeting -- the first hearing on Gov. Ted Strickland's energy plan -- was delayed so it could be moved to a larger room in the Statehouse.
Utility companies, manufacturers, unions, farmers and environmentalists hastened their representatives to Wednesday's meeting because Strickland's energy plan, introduced in the Ohio Senate, has unprecedented ramifications for Ohio consumers, the economy and the environment.
Strickland describes his plan as a "jobs bill." While he can't yet point to the cost of the plan or to the number of jobs it specifically will create, one thing is clear: It already has become a full-employment act for lobbyists.
The four major electric utility companies have a combined 43 registered Ohio lobbyists, including their in-house ones and well-known former Democratic and Republican officials working as hired guns. And more are being hired almost daily.
FirstEnergy, for instance, which has 17 lobbyists on the books, just added two more last week: former Congressman Dennis Eckart, a friend of the governor's; and Sarah Briggs, former political director of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus.
Large manufacturers combined have dozens, some in-house and others working through trade groups, which have hired among the best known lobbyists in Columbus.
Other companies are further behind the scenes. Take the Columbus-based Boich coal mining company. It just hired Mike Dawson, a well-known number cruncher and policy expert who was an adviser to former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine.
"This bill is an important test of whether policy gets set by an army of lobbyists or by Ohio stakeholders," Strickland's energy adviser, Mark Shanahan, said after giving his testimony before the Ohio Senate's Energy & Public Utilities Committee.
There are so many interested groups that House Speaker Jon Husted's office has "more meeting requests than we can get scheduled," says spokeswoman Karen Tabor. The House is expected to take up the bill next month.
High Energy lobbying targets electric bill legislation
Posted by Mark Naymik , October 01, 2007 17:13PM
They showed up to fight over your electric bill. Nearly 100 of them, all with connections to Ohio lawmakers, some wielding Blackberrys, talking points, press releases and even an opinion poll.
So many came that the meeting -- the first hearing on Gov. Ted Strickland's energy plan -- was delayed so it could be moved to a larger room in the Statehouse.
Utility companies, manufacturers, unions, farmers and environmentalists hastened their representatives to Wednesday's meeting because Strickland's energy plan, introduced in the Ohio Senate, has unprecedented ramifications for Ohio consumers, the economy and the environment.
Strickland describes his plan as a "jobs bill." While he can't yet point to the cost of the plan or to the number of jobs it specifically will create, one thing is clear: It already has become a full-employment act for lobbyists.
The four major electric utility companies have a combined 43 registered Ohio lobbyists, including their in-house ones and well-known former Democratic and Republican officials working as hired guns. And more are being hired almost daily.
FirstEnergy, for instance, which has 17 lobbyists on the books, just added two more last week: former Congressman Dennis Eckart, a friend of the governor's; and Sarah Briggs, former political director of the Ohio House Democratic Caucus.
Large manufacturers combined have dozens, some in-house and others working through trade groups, which have hired among the best known lobbyists in Columbus.
Other companies are further behind the scenes. Take the Columbus-based Boich coal mining company. It just hired Mike Dawson, a well-known number cruncher and policy expert who was an adviser to former U.S. Sen. Mike DeWine.
"This bill is an important test of whether policy gets set by an army of lobbyists or by Ohio stakeholders," Strickland's energy adviser, Mark Shanahan, said after giving his testimony before the Ohio Senate's Energy & Public Utilities Committee.
There are so many interested groups that House Speaker Jon Husted's office has "more meeting requests than we can get scheduled," says spokeswoman Karen Tabor. The House is expected to take up the bill next month.
