PHOENIX — Saying they’re getting fat on tax dollars, Gov. Doug Ducey on Wednesday barred state agencies under his control from hiring private lobbyists to do their bidding at the Legislature and ordered existing contracts terminated.
“For too long, too many government entities have used public dollars to protect their own interests at the expense of taxpayers, small businesses and regular citizens who can’t afford their own lobbyist,” the governor said in a prepared statement. “Under this old system of cronyism, lobbyists get richer, special interests thrive and citizens foot the bill.”
What’s worse, said gubernatorial press aide Daniel Scarpinato, is no one knows exactly how much is being spent.
He said Ducey staffers sent a query to the executive directors of the more than 200 boards and commissions asking whether they have outside lobbyists and how much they spent. He said more than 80 of these entities didn’t even respond.
Scarpinato said his boss is not saying state agencies as well as boards and commission should not have a presence at the Capitol. He said lawmakers need someone who can answer specific questions raised by lawmakers.
But Scarpinato acknowledged the governor was particularly riled when some of these boards and commissions that oversee professional specialties used their private lobbyists to work against his efforts at deregulation. The result, he said, was that some of the proposals to eliminate licensing for certain professions were “watered down” to the point where Ducey’s lobbyist asked that one of the bills be scrapped as meaningless.
Scarpinato said the governor views many licensing requirements as little more than thinly disguised efforts by those in the profession to minimize competition. He said what makes it worse is when this protectionism is underwritten with public dollars.
“That’s not the proper role of a government entity,” Scarpinato said. The cost is at least $1 million a year, Scarpinato said, though it could be more given the number of boards and commissions that have ignored the request for information.
Scarpinato said there’s nothing wrong with privately funded professional groups hiring teams of lobbyists to protect their turf.
“The problem is when we’re using public money, public dollars, to make lobbyists rich to come down to the Capitol ... to keep out competition,” he said. “That’s not the purpose of a government entity.”
And then there’s the lack of transparency, as shown by the fact that even Ducey can’t figure out how many lobbyists have state contracts, how much they’re paid and what they’re doing for the money.
“The fact is, unfortunately, is over time we’ve created this system where we have this whole piece of government that’s operating in the dark of the night,” he said.
All of that aside, Scarpinato questioned why various boards and commissions need outside lobbyists given that they have their own staffers.
“Do you think the (Arizona) Medical Board needs to pay $36,000 to have someone go down to the Capitol, for one board, to lobby for a Legislature that’s in session for a few months of the year?” Scarpinato asked. “That’s more than a starting salary of a teacher.”
