Budget-wise, things have been getting a bit tight in Albany recently. The urge to spend state money by newly-elected liberal Democrats from New York City was tempered by the realities of diminishing tax revenues as well as Governor Andrew Cuomo’s interest in continuing to hold down the growth in spending.
Nonetheless, determining how state resources will be used continues to feed a large segment of the business community that tries every year to get a larger piece of the pie. Lobbying is alive and well in New York State.
This blog has been reviewing the list of Western New York firms and organizations that employed lobbyists for several years, beginning in 2014, and continuing in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
Lobbying is big business in New York State. The Joint Commission on Public Ethics (JCOPE) annually publishes a list of lobbying activity. In 2018, according to JCOPE, a total of $261.2 million was spent on lobbying work in the state. This was up $21 million from the previous year.
Statewide, the major lobby clients are pretty consistently related to the activities of the educational institutions, real estate and construction, and health care. In 2018, however, Uber Technologies ranked number 1 with nearly $6 million in spending.
Statewide, the major lobbyist firms move around a bit in the top ten lists from year-to-year. In 2018 Kasirer LLC leads the list of lobbyists, ranked by total compensation and reimbursed expenses, with $12.8 million. There were 7,790 lobbyists in the state who represented 5,041 clients last year.
This post drills down to the clients based in Western New York employing lobbyists in 2018. Total spending by local firms and organizations in 2018 was $5.089 million, an increase of one half million dollars or 11 percent over 2017. As has been the case in recent years, the local lobbying business is led by the firm of Masiello, Martucci, Calabrese & Associates (MMC), which had $1,299,000 in local billings last year. Bolton St. John (BSJ) was second at $711,674. E3 rated third in billings with $362,500.
Certain firms and organizations basically represent themselves in the lobbying work and are so noted in the following list. As to the lobbying firms involved, here is a code for those that had local business in 2018, along with some local connections to those firms:
BW Brown & Weinraub
BSJ Bolton St. Johns (Jack O’Donnell; Camille Brandon)
CHC Capital Health Consulting
CG Capitol Group
CC Carreau Consulting
COPS Cozen O’Connor Public Strategies
DA Dickinson Avella
E3 E3 Communications (Brian Gould)
EA Empire Advocates
ES Envision Strategy
FWC Featherstonhaugh, Wiley & Clyne
GT Greenberg Traurig
HH Hadley Horrigan
HSE Harter Secrest Emery
HSA Hinman Straub
JRD J.R. Drexelius
KN Karen Nicolson
LS Lawrence Schillinger
MC McBride Consultants
MPA Mercury Public Affairs
MR Malkin & Ross
MPP Manatt, Phelps & Phillips
MMC Masiello, Martucci, Calabrese (Tony Masiello, Vic Martucci, Carl Calabrese)
NFBS Niagara Frontier Business Solutions
PL Patricia Lynch
PG Parkside Group
PS Park Strategies (Alphonse D’Amato)
PBD Pitta Bishop & Del Giorno
RMS Reid, McNally & Savage
RM Richardson Management (Richard Winter)
SA Sheridan Hofman & Associates
SPA Statewide Public Affairs
SDS Strategic Development Specialists
UC Upstate Consultants
USA Upstate Strategic Advisors (Sam Hoyt)
ZGA ZGA, LLC
Here is the list of the 115 local firms and organizations that employed lobbyists in 2018. Twenty-six new firms and organizations signed on for lobbying last year while 18 dropped off from the 2017 list. Some clients use more than one lobby firm:
Client Firm Total ’18 Expenses
3DATX Corporation NC $25,000
Albright-Knox Art Gallery MMC $18,000
Applied Science Group BSJ $35,520
Archer Daniel Midland MMC $36,000
Area Health Education System RMS $5,776
Assn. of Ambulatory Surgery Centers E3 $40,000
Association of Electrical Workers $121,128
Association of Home Inspectors PG $12,000
Assn. of Plumbing,Heating,Cooling Con. CG $16,105
Athletic Trainers Association CC $40,000
Baker Victory Services BSJ $36,959
Buffalo & Erie Co. Naval Military Park BSJ $16,959
Buffalo & Erie Co. Botanical Gardens MMC $48,000
Buffalo City Cemetery FWC $36,656
MMC $24,000
Buffalo Computer Graphics BW $61,068
Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors $13,464
Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus MMC $36,000
Buffalo Niagara Partnership $15,382
Buffalo Niagara Waterkeeper BSJ $591
Buffalo Professional Firefighters E3 $9,000
Buffalo State College $31,548
Buffalo Zoo MMC $24,000
Canisius College $250
Catholic Health System HH $50,647
Center for Elder Law & Justice KN $124,571
MMC $24,000
City of Lackawanna MMC $36,000
Coalition for Community Building MMC $27,000
County of Niagara MMC $60,000
County of Orleans PS $62,148
Creative Structure Services MMC $18,000
Custom Crews Inc. RM $15,000
Delaware North Companies BSJ $150,959
DA $120,851
$3,552
Delta Sonic MMC $18,000
Developmental Disability Alliance JRD $40,350
District Council 4, Painters PBD $25,980
D’Youville College MMC $90,000
Erie County Medical Center MMC $48,000
Erie County Water Authority HSE $40,218
Evans Bank RM $30,000
Evergreen Health Services of WNY MR $50,100
Fair Committee USA $35,000
Fallon Health Weinberg HSA $60,468
FNUB, Inc. BSJ $21,000
Fresenius Kabi USA SPA $63,811
GAR Associates MMC $30,000
ES $49,171
Gates Circle Holdings E3 $36,000
Genesee County Economic Dev. PS $20,148
Globe Metallurgical UC $44,081
Greenman Petersen MMC $36,000
Hauptman-Woodward HSE $10,501
HealthNow New York MMP $36,000
Independent Health Association $120,000
SH $58,800
Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries LS $22,500
John W. Danforth Company MMC $36,000
NFBS $13,500
EA $36,000
Kaleida Health MMC $108,000
Ken-Ton Elmwood Commons MMC $3,000
Ken-Ton School District MMC $16,000
Lactalis American Group MMC $30,000
Maid of the Mist Corp. PL $36,042
Marrano MMC $1,000
Mensch Capital Partners MMC $36,000
Modern Corp. MMC $54,000
Monterrey Security BSJ $33,459
Natl. Assn. of Industrial Office Parks MMC $36,000
National Fuel Gas E3 $30,000
GT $45,000
SPA $13,077
HSE $25,909
$12,125
Neighborhood Legal Services BSJ $24,959
New Era Cap Company BSJ $60,959
Niagara Falls Bridge Commission PS $108,959
Niagara Falls Memorial Med. Center BSJ $42,959
Niagara Frontier Auto Dealers Assn. HSE $24,918
Niagara Frontier Transportation Auth. MMC $78,000
NOCO E3 $24,000
North American Breweries RMS $5,697
Olin E3 $60,000
Parkview Health Services MMC $18,000
People, Inc. BSJ $36,000
Phillips Lytle MMC $36,000
Pyramid Management Group PG $30,000
Power for Economic Prosperity E3 $31,500
Premier Genesee Center CHC $12,500
Public Housing Auth Directors Assn. EA $30,000
Regional Community Service Programs MR $58,386
Rigidized Metal Corp. BSJ $48,959
Riviera Theatre RM $7,500
Rosina Food Products MMC $36,000
Roswell Park Cancer Institute GT $84,223
Save Ontario Shore, Inc. MMC $30,000
Seneca Nation of Indians MMC $30,000
$800
Shea’s O’Connell Preservation Guild MMC $30,000
Sinatra and Company MMC $36,000
Snyder Corp. MMC $15,000
SUNY Brockport $2,262
SUNY Fredonia $190
SUNY Geneseo COPS $20,842
TM Montante Development E3 $42,000
Town of Cheektowaga BSJ $36,959
Town of Tonawanda E3 $31,706
Trocaire College E3 $60,000
UB Associates $5,304
University at Buffalo $338,577
Upstate Niagara Cooperative $6,646
US Traffic Control RM $15,000
Raul Vazquez, M.D. MMC $36,000
Vegetable Growers SPA $24,484
Villarini & Henry LLP SPA $6,811
Western Central Coalition for Children GT $16,041
Western New York Energy PS $26,148
Western New York Healthcare Assn. $16,744
Western New York Law Center BSJ $36,959
Western Regional OTB MPA $120,000
SDS $55,000
Wheatfield Gardens RM $50,000
William Schutt & Associates MMC $18,000
WNY Women’s Foundation $1,272
Politics and Other Stuff 