Lobbyists Spent $600 Million to Influence States; New Book Shows Private Interests Reign in State Capitals

4/29/2002

From: Leah Rush of The Center for Public Integrity, 202-466-1300, ext. 137, lrush@publicintegrity.org; http://www.stateprojects.org http://www.publicintegrity.org

News Advisory:

The Center for Public Integrity's groundbreaking investigative reporting and analysis of special interest politics in state legislatures continues with the publication of the Center's latest book, Capitol Offenders: How Private Interests Govern Our States. The book is being released in conjunction with "The Fourth Branch," a new Center study that reveals lobbyists spent at least $600 million impacting legislation in states across the country in 2000.

Capitol Offenders and "The Fourth Branch" will be unveiled during a National Press Club news conference in Washington on Wednesday, May 1 at 9:30 a.m. Capitol Offenders author Diane Renzulli and Center for Public Integrity Executive Director Charles Lewis, along with Center writers and researchers, will be on hand to discuss the ways personal financial concerns of lawmakers and special interest lobbying mute the voices of average Americans.

For "The Fourth Branch," the Center compiled a nationwide database of all 36,959 special interests registered to hire lobbyists in the states-a ratio of five lobbying entities for every state legislator. The data is coded by industry and provides a snapshot of special interest influence in each state. The insurance industry boasts the most industry representation in the halls of statehouses across the country with 2,269 businesses and associations registered. Second is health services, followed by education, local government and health professionals. The report spotlights this searchable database and state-by-state analysis.

Capitol Offenders, the culmination of five years of research into state legislatures by the Center, finds that state legislators themselves sometimes have as much interest in legislation as "Fourth Branch" lobbyists. Lawmakers often have a personal financial stake in the laws they write, vote on and champion on the statehouse floor. Capitol Offenders examines some of the most important issues confronting Americans today: from HMOs denying care to sick policyholders to the decline in the quality of America's schools. It examines the exploitation of the poor by "legalized loan sharks" and state lotteries and the failure of nursing homes to provide adequate care for the elderly.

--- Contact Leah Rush, above, for embargoed access to report.