Mgm Doubles Down On Lobbying as Senate Crafts Stimulus Measure
The economic recovery plan being crafted on Capitol Hill is everything from a lifeline for American businesses to provocation for an international trade war. The potential $900 billion stimulus, a single spending-and-tax package bigger than the annual gross domestic product of Mexico or Australia, has generated a lobbying frenzy.
The vast majority of lawmakers and corporate interests agree — and the lobbying will last beyond Senate passage of its version of the stimulus bill — that the economy needs a massive cash infusion. The question is: who gets what?
“This is one of those issues where there is a larger agenda and many, many lesser agendas,” said lobbyist Vic Fazio, a former Democratic representative from California whose clients include AT&T Inc. and Johnson & Johnson.
Las Vegas casino companies MGM and Harrahs Entertainment Inc. are pressing their preferences with Nevadas five-member delegation, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
George Little, president of HDR Engineering Inc., tracked down Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns at a wild-game dinner for hunters to lobby for infrastructure spending. The Canadian ambassador wrote to Senate leaders about protectionism.
The lobbying has brought together some strange bedfellows: Ski resort operator Vail Resorts Inc. and chemical maker Georgia Gulf Corp. both joined a group pushing corporate tax changes.
Away From Cameras
The arm-twisting takes place away from the television cameras, in closed-door meetings, cocktail gatherings, phone calls, letters and petitions. With so much at stake, corporate interests will keep pushing their agendas until the ink is dry on legislation headed to the desk of President Barack Obama.
Some lobbyists have a natural connection. David McCurdy, a former Democratic representative from Oklahoma, is visiting former colleagues on Capitol Hill in his role as president of the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers. The group is pushing for payments to car owners who trade-in older cars for more fuel-efficient, less-polluting models.
“Modernizing our nations automotive fleet should be a top priority,” McCurdy wrote in a Jan. 23 letter to lawmakers.
The Senate this week has offered lobbyists another chance at financing their favorite programs, after an $819 billion version passed the House without a single Republican vote. Interest groups likely will get a third try during negotiations over a compromise between the two chambers.
While many trade groups have members with conflicting interests, others have a more uniform mission. The 33,000-member Associated General Contractors of America in Arlington, Virginia, is pushing for greater infrastructure funding in a Senate proposal that now earmarks $27 billion for highways.
The contractors group, whose members include Omaha-based HDR, held a videoconference this week for 500 to 600 members and sent podcasts to companies, urging them to contact their representatives. So far, members have written 10,000 letters.
“Weve never seen so much focus on a single topic,” group spokesman Brian Turmail said. “The stimulus is, for many of these guys, the difference between staying in business or not.”
Gary Hudder, president of Asphalt Paving and Supply Inc. in Prescott Valley, Arizona, said hes had to cut his workforce to 140 from 200 a year ago. Facing the prospect of firing as many as 50 more workers in the next three months, he is for the first time trying to influence federal legislation, writing letters to his states U.S. senators, Republicans John McCain and Jon Kyl.
Earning a Living
“Were interested in having money available to put our folks to work and let them earn a living,” Hudder said.
Granite Construction, based in Watsonville, California, has met with California Senator Barbara Boxer about infrastructure spending and sent executives based around the country to deliver the message to their local lawmakers, said Robert Dugan, the companys director of government and public affairs.
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