Colorado’s lobbyists made almost $70 million last legislative session working to influence the state’s laws, policies, and spending. The money paints a clear picture for Coloradans — lobbying is expensive and the people paying for it must believe it is effective.
Not all lobbying is bad. As Sen. Paul Lundeen pointed out in The Denver Post’s investigation into lobbyist spending and activities this year, lobbyists often make sure lawmakers are clear-eyed about the unintended consequences of legislation.
Good lobbyists quell bad ideas and in a state with single-party rule — where Democrats hold the House, Senate, and the governor’s office — that is an important role.
But lobbyists can also mislead lawmakers, draft questionable legislation, and propose poison pill amendments. Being aware and cautious about a bill’s negative effects is good, getting hoodwinked or browbeat into doing something that’s bad for Coloradans is not.
Major lobbying firms like Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Husch Blackwell Strategies, and The Capstone Group are able to pay their employees hundreds of dollars an hour to be at the state Capitol pushing for their client’s preferred outcomes.
And lobbyists do far more than just testify in committees. As The Denver Post reported earlier this year, lobbyists often write bills and amendments and pressure lawmakers to carry the exact language preferred by their clients.
Sen. Julie Gonzales, the sponsor of House Bill 1057, told The Denver Post that a bad amendment to her bill had actually been written by a software company opposed to the legislation. The legislation was sparked by an investigation by ProPublica into a nationwide company that is part of a federal probe into price fixing among landlords. The amendment would have allowed landlords to use the rent-setting algorithm as long as they publicly disclosed it.
Ultimately, the bill died because the House refused to accept the bad amendment and the Senate refused to strike it.
Gonzales did the right thing standing up to lobbyists’ attempts to water down her bill.
Lawmakers can shine a bright light on lobbyists’ dark activities to help undermine their power. More lawmakers need to speak up about the bills and amendments lobbyists asked them to carry, even when the suggestions are refused.
Colorado’s new lobbyist disclosure platform developed by Secretary of State Jena Griswold is a huge step in the right direction, so Coloradans can see who is spending what at the Capitol to influence whom.
Sen. Lisa Cutter’s bill to fully ban PFAS from some consumer products was one of the five most heavily lobbied bills of 2024. Cutter’s bill became law, but even she agrees the lobbying pressures have grown worse at the Capitol.
“It’s kind of complicated, right? There’s some really great lobbyists that do some really great work for their clients — and add to our understanding to create a bill that’s workable and makes sense,” Cutter told The Denver Post. “Then there’s the lobby and the special interests that spend a bazillion dollars — lots of money — to try to prevent progress and prevent what we all really know is the right thing to be doing.”
Cutter’s bill was better for the lobbied amendments — a full ban of PFAS was taken out in response to requests from companies that have products already manufactured that need to be sold. A partial ban will take effect in 2028.
But ProPublica reported this year that the chemical company 3M has known since 1997 that some PFAS chemicals had contaminated the general population’s bloodstreams and that chemicals were toxic. 3M paid lobbyist John Paul Seman with Colorado Advocates $2,000 a month during the 2024 legislative session. We hope Seman used his influence to support a ban that never should have been required because 3M executives should have begun phasing out PFAS chemicals almost three decades ago, but we are guessing that’s not what he was paid to do. Lobbyists for 3M are the modern-day equivalent of Big Tobacco lobbyists in 1954.
The good, ethical, hardworking lobbyists have nothing to fear from lawmakers airing dirty laundry. The rest may have to clean up their acts.
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