A proposed $100 limit on lobbyist gifts to state lawmakers has a new lease on life.
A bill by Sen. Josh McKoon, R-Columbus, and Rep. Tommy Smith, R-Nicholls, got nowhere this year after key Republicans who run the legislature balked.
But what a difference two months can make.
At least 70 lawmakers and legislative candidates, including all but one of those in the Chatham County area with contested races, now back it.
Expert opinion about the outlook for passage next year varies, but many sense a turnaround.
“There’s momentum building,” said Kennesaw State University political science professor Kerwin Swint. “There’s a groundswell.”
Significantly, Senate President Pro Tem Tommie Williams of Lyons and Majority Leader Tom Rogers of Woodstock are on board, although Williams is stepping down from his leadership role.
Eyebrows rose last month when Senate Rules Committee Chairman Don Balfour signed on. The Snellville
Republican is one of the legislature’s top recipients of lobbyists’ largesse.
“That shocked all of us,” said William Perry, executive director of the Georgia Common Cause political watchdog group, a major supporter of limiting lobbyists’ gifts. “He apparently decided it was time to do an about face.”
Perry’s group is sending a new batch of letters to legislative candidates asking them to pledge their support to the limit.
Those who fail to sign on by June 22 will be listed on the Common Cause website, where supporters are now listed, Perry said.
Although Congress wouldn’t be affected, four Republicans seeking to replace Augusta Democratic U.S. Rep. John Barrow, formerly of Savannah, also are for it.
Among them is state Rep. Lee Anderson of Grovetown, who has received no gifts valued at more than $100 this year from lobbyists.
“The $100 gift limit is something I would have voted for in the House and is still an idea that our state leaders should seriously consider,” he said.
Augusta businessman Rick Allen and Augusta attorney Wright McLeod agree.
Dublin lawyer Maria Sheffield didn’t wait to be asked; she endorsed the measure on her own.
“I know it’s not a congressional issue,” she said. “But I’m a Georgia voter, and I want people to know where I stand.”
Voters to get a say
Georgia voters will get to weigh in soon. The state Republican and Democratic parties have agreed to put a non-binding question on the July 31 primary ballot.
“I think the turning point was when grassroots delegates at the state Republican convention pushed to get it on the ballot,” Perry said.
In Chatham County, the only lawmaker in an opposed race who rejects the idea is Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah.
Stephens, chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee received three lobbyist gifts this year valued at more than $100.
The most expensive, a $257 framed photo of Savannah Harbor given to him by a lobbyist for the Georgia Ports Authority, hangs in his capitol office.
“It’s the first thing you see when you come into my office and I want it to be,” Stephens — a leading backer of deepening the port — said recently.
“It’s silly,” Stephens said of the proposed $100 cap. “I’ve always said that as long as there is transparency about gifts and the public knows, that’s fine.”
That mirrors the view of House Speaker David Ralston of Blue Ridge, whose continued opposition is widely seen as the biggest obstacle to the measure.
But Lauren Craddock, Stephens’ Democratic opponent this fall, cites a 2010 freebie Ralston received as one of her reasons for backing a $100 limit.
Ralston and his family took a $17,000 European trip funded by lobbyists for a firm eager to build high-speed rail in Georgia.
He called it a “working trip” and said no improper influence was involved, but Craddock said it was unseemly.
“I think it’s fine for him to take a vacation, but on his own dime, not some lobbyist’s,” said the Richmond Hill information technology specialist.
Other supporters
She and Stephens are unopposed in their respective primaries.
Both Republicans vying to replace Ann Purcell of Rincon, who is retiring, in House District 161 favor the proposal.
No Democrats are running, so — depending on who wins the primary — either Bill Hitchens or Kristopher Moutray, both also of Rincon, will get the seat.
“I’m not going to be out on the circuit with lobbyists,” said Hitchens, former commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety. “I don’t need to go out and have expensive meals.”
Moutray, a senior aircraft technician at Gulfstream, said he rejects the contention that current disclosure laws ensure transparency.
“I think people want to see some improvement,” he said.
State Rep. Bob Bryant, D-Garden City, also has signed a pledge to support the limit.
He and all of Chatham County’s other state legislators are unopposed for re-election.
That’s common in much of the state, and Perry concedes such lawmakers are under less pressure to support the measure as those facing opponents.
Many of them eventually will, Perry predicted.
“They’re going to want to do the right thing to fend off future challenges,” he said. “We’re just starting. I’m fired up. I’m excited.”
Ralston a major player
But Savannah political consultant David Simons, whose clients have included dozens of state lawmakers, doesn’t think the legislation will pass.
The Senate, where the influence of tea party activists who back the $100 limit is strong, might adopt it as a rule for its members, Simons said.
However, tea party clout in the House is weaker and Ralston is likely to prevail, he said.
“This proposal is very unpopular there,” he said. “They don’t think they can be bought for a free meal.”
University of Georgia political scientist Charles Bullock agreed the measure likely won’t clear the House — or become law — without Ralston’s support.
But Kennessaw State’s Swint remains upbeat about its prospects.
“It’s something the people of Georgia support and want,” he said. “I would guess 55 or 60 percent are in favor.”