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January 10, 2005

A day in the life | As the legislative session shifts into gear, a long-time lobbyist describes his job

By David Clough
Founder, Enterprise Policy Group, Yarmouth

A typical day in the life of a lobbyist is a day that's not typical. In the early part of a session, a typical day is relatively manageable. It involves touching base with legislators and lobbyists and going to some committee meetings.

Then you go into a phase when a lot of bills are coming out. At first it's a trickle, and then it can be over 100 bills a day. Then hearings on individual bills are scheduled. Committees will schedule several different hearings on the same day, and if the bill you're testifying on isn't the first to be heard, you're not sure when in the day it will come up. So you have to hang around and wait.

Then the committees go into a lot of intensive work on reporting out bills and work sessions; that goes from early March into late April. The hours when the Legislature is in the public hearing and work session schedule can be long, but not extraordinary. Then when the Legislature is trying to get through everything and get out before June, they'll schedule sessions morning, afternoon and evening. There's less chance for casual conversation, and communication becomes more purposeful. We go from the smiling phase of the legislative session to the focused eyes and tight lips phase. A lot of people are sleep-deprived.

When the Legislature is in session, I have a daily routine. I'll go to the document room and pick up any new legislation that's been printed, then I'll get the House and Senate calendars to see what votes are scheduled. Then I go up to the third floor and touch base with a couple legislators. Because legislators don't have individual offices, being up on the third floor is a way for people to check in with them.

All day, you're talking to different legislators about different issues; it's not unusual to walk down the long hall from the Senate to the House and have a bunch of conversations on different issues for different clients with different legislators. You develop a way to track things in your mind ˆ— you keep switching back and forth between clients and issues and legislators and lobbyists.

When I first started lobbying, I was surprised and amazed at just how open the Maine Legislature and the legislative process is. And in all the time I've been doing this, I can probably count on one hand the people who seem like they were putting on airs. Most of the lobbyists I know have great respect for the jobs legislators are trying to do, whether they agree with them or not, and by and large that's a mutual feeling. Rarely do you run into a legislator who's hostile to you because they don't like the views you're advocating.

It goes beyond the fact that legislators have something lobbyists want ˆ— that's the vote ˆ— to a recognition of what lobbyists have to offer. Legislators do not have much in the way of staff, so legislators look to lobbyists on both sides of the issue to provide them with information and insight. More than anything it's an educational process; you're educating people on how an issue may affect the interests you're advocating for, why a particular client holds the view it holds and what the choices are.

I stumbled into lobbying, in a way. I worked for Bill Cohen when he was in the U.S. House, then I came back to Maine and went to work for a trade association in Augusta in the late 70s. I heard about a small-business group, the National Federation of Independent Business, that was looking for a Maine lobbyist, and started doing that in January of 1982. I concentrate now on business-related clients: NFIB and the Maine Staffing Association, primarily. I've also done some work for a structural steel fabricator on state procurement and international trade issues.

Focusing on business clients has substantially reduced the potential for conflict. I don't take on clients who I feel uncomfortable with. I won't mention categories, but there are some even on the business side that I wouldn't do. You have to have a certain amount of detachment, but I believe in the legitimacy of the cause of the clients I take on.

I tend to suspend judgment on whether something is a good idea or a bad idea as far as I am personally concerned ˆ— I'm not getting paid to represent my own personal views.

Having a sense of humor also is extremely important. It's a difficult environment ˆ— there's a lot of pressure ˆ— and sometimes being able to laugh something off is a great sanity saver.

There are three quotes I refer to that I think sum up this job. Henry Ford said, "Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right." That one's self-explanatory. Yogi Berra said, "When you come to a fork in the road, take it," which says to me that, no matter what, some action is always going to be taken. And then Abba Eban, an Israeli diplomat and politician said, "History teaches us that men and nations will behave wisely once they have exhausted the alternatives."

The idea behind all of this is attitude: Something's always going to happen, don't lose perspective, and no matter what happens there's always going to be another day.

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