At least 14 Democrat and eight Republican lawmakers in Maine have gone on to register as paid lobbyists over the past three decades, a practice that is being targeted by a bill moving through the Legislature.
The Maine House and Senate last week advanced a bill to ban future lawmakers from any paid lobbying within their first year out of office. The state ethics commissions had called for the change in 2017.
The Associated Press compared state lobbying reports with legislative rosters and found that nearly half of the 22 former lawmakers who registered as lobbyists over the past three decades did so within the same year of leaving office. They consisted evenly of five Republicans and five Democrats.
The lawmakers-turned-lobbyists have raked in $3.6 million in total compensation for their firms, according to the AP's analysis.
It's a perennial issue in statehouses nationwide, boosting the influence of politicians-turned-lobbyists who trade on their political connections to advance special interests.
The revolving door "really gets to the distrust people have in the institution of government," said Democratic Sen. Justin Chenette, sponsor of the bill to impose a one-year "cooling-off" period before a politician can register to lobby former colleagues.
Democratic Gov. Janet Mills hasn't taken a position on Chenette's legislation, a spokesman said.
Maine tried to prevent the lawmaker-to-lobbyist pipeline with a 2013 law aimed at stopping former lawmakers from lobbying in their first year after service. But a loophole allows former lawmakers to avoid registering as lobbyists if they are doing it fewer than eight hours a month. That means it's unknown just how many lawmakers have lobbied their former colleagues.
The loophole came to light in 2017 when former Democratic Rep. Adam Goode left office and within months started lobbying for the state AFL-CIO, which represents the interests of organized labor.
Goode, whom state ethics commissioners declined to investigate following a Republican's complaint, didn't respond to a request for comment.
"We have a situation where lawmakers can become lobbyists immediately for a corporation or special interest group, and don't have to register and publicly disclose they're a lobbyist," Chenette said. "It is a deep concern."
"Cooling-off periods" often vary from six months to two years, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures . About two dozen states have a one-year cooling-off period; Florida is extending its two-year cooling-off period to six years effective Dec. 31, 2022.
Former lawmakers who are now lobbyists have long defended the practice as allowing public servants to work on issues they're passionate about, or providing needed expertise of weedy policy and procedures to citizen lawmakers who face term limits.
Carol Weston served as a Republican state representative from 2002 to 2010, when she began working for Americans for Prosperity, a conservative advocacy group funded by billionaire brothers David H. Koch and Charles Koch.
Weston registered as a paid lobbyist in 2011 and 2012, and said she worked for six years for Americans for Prosperity, which she called a "grassroots education nonprofit."
"You could say I was lobbying because I would help grassroots learn how to lobby, and we actually did come to the Statehouse and try to make a difference," said Weston, who is now retired.
But, she added, she can understand that the "revolving door" can raise eyebrows. "I can see the point in waiting to make sure that everything is transparent," Weston said. "Especially if you're lobbying for an industry that you were helmviping to regulate as a legislator."
The revolving door isn't limited to the state Legislature.
Mills has hired at least four former lobbyists to work in her administration, including senior adviser Mary Anne Turowski, who as of December was a lobbyist for the state public employees union.
Former Gov. Paul LePage's cabinet, advisers and legal counsel included at least six former lobbyists.
Former Democratic Gov. John Baldacci left office in 2011 and returned to lobby in 2015 and 2016. "Good government issues need to be continually worked on, and sunlight and transparency are very important so people have a clear vision on who and what is taking place," he said.
Monica McCarthy, who owns a storage business in Smithfield, said "regular working people" can't always take time off to go to hearings, meaning lawmakers most often encounter lobbyists paid to see them.
"And when those people are former legislators themselves and they already know how the whole process works, and they know how to work with these people, it really balances the scales in favor of just sort of the same old government-big corporation complex and away from the needs of the average citizen," she said.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union.
Prime Minister Miloš Vučević's government got backing in a 152-61 vote in the 250-member parliament. The remaining 37 lawmakers were absent.
The government includes former intelligence chief Aleksandar Vulin, who has made several visits to Russia in recent months, as one of several vice-premiers, along with Nenad Popović, another Russia supporter who has faced U.S. sanctions.
The foreign minister in the previous government, Ivica Dačić, also a pro-Russia politician, will be in charge of the Interior Ministry in the new Cabinet.
The vote followed a heated two-day debate. President Aleksandar Vučić's ruling nationalist conservative Serbian Progressive Party holds a comfortable majority after an election in December that fueled political tensions because of reports of widespread irregularities.
The increasingly authoritarian Vučić has refused to join Western sanctions against Moscow over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, though Serbia has condemned the aggression.
Vučević, the new prime minister, reiterated that Belgrade doesn't intend to impose sanctions on Russia and “cannot and will not give up" the friendship with Russia. Integration into the EU remains a ”strategic goal," Vucevic said.
"Best possible” relations with the U.S. also are in Serbia's interest, Vučević added. “I firmly believe that our relations can once again be on a high level.”
Security analyst and a Belgrade university professor Filip Ejdus described the new government's composition as a “spin" designed to send a message both to the West and Russia, and to voters at home.
“It sends a message to the EU that they should not push Belgrade too much over democracy, rule of law, or Kosovo if they want to keep Serbia in its orbit,” Ejdus said. “At the same time, it signals to Moscow a readiness to strengthen the strategic partnership with Russia.”
The U.S. imposed sanctions on Vulin in July, accusing him of involvement in illegal arms shipments, drug trafficking and misuse of public office.
The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said that Vulin used his public authority to help a U.S.-sanctioned Serbian arms dealer move illegal arms shipments across Serbia’s borders. Vulin is also accused of involvement in a drug trafficking ring, according to U.S. authorities.
Vulin, who in the past had served as both the army and police chief, has recently received two medals of honor from Russia, one from the Federal Security Service, or FSB, and the other was awarded to him by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Popović, a businessman and a former government minister, has “used his Russia-based businesses to enrich himself and gain close connections with Kremlin senior leaders,” the U.S. Treasury said last November in a statement.
The U.S. sanctions against individuals and companies in the Balkans are designed to counter attempts to undermine peace and stability in the volatile region and Russia's “malign” influence.
The West has stepped up efforts to lure the troubled region into its fold, fearing that Russia could stir unrest to avert attention from the war in Ukraine. The Balkans went through multiple wars in the 1990s, and tensions still persist.
Serbia's falling democracy record has pushed the country away from EU integration, explained Ejdus. Reports of election fraud at the Dec. 17 vote triggered street protests and clashes.
“Vučić is still pretending to be on the EU path because it’s beneficial for Serbia’s economy, and the EU tolerates his authoritarian tendencies out of fear of instability that could be caused in its backyard if Belgrade was lost to Russia and China,” Ejdus said.
Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, right, smiles during a parliament session while Serbia's prime minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Serbia's new government will include a former intelligence chief, Aleksandar Vulin who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's former Prime Minister and Parliament speaker Ana Brnabic, left, speaks with Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's Prime Minister designate Milos Vucevic presents a plan for the new government to the parliament members in Belgrade, Serbia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, front, speaks with Aleksandar Vulin, former director of Serbia's intelligence agency, who has fostered close ties with Russia and is sanctioned by the United States at the parliament session during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, left, kisses Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic after taking the oath during the cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Serbia's new Prime Minister Milos Vucevic and ministers of the new government of Serbia read their oaths at the parliament session during her cabinet's swearing in ceremony at the Serbian Parliament building in Belgrade, Serbia, Thursday, May 2, 2024. Serbian lawmakers on Thursday voted into office a new government that reinstated two pro-Russia officials who are sanctioned by the United States, reflecting persistent close ties with Moscow despite the Balkan nation's proclaimed bid to join the European Union. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
