Editors note: As lobbying shops report their second quarter compensation fees, several firms’ numbers are worth examining closer.
During the second quarter of 2013, Capitol Insight represented 30 clients before the Legislature to a tune of up to $499,999 in compensation — and represented 34 clients before executive agencies, adding as much as another $499,999 to their quarterly sum.
This six-member team includes a full roster of heavyweights in Florida policymaking — former House speakers Larry Cretul and Dean Cannon among them. While Cannon and former House political director Kirk Pepper are still in the waiting period where they may not lobby the Legislature, this hasn’t stopped the firm from killing it in the client department.
Quite literally, they went from zero to sixty (in clients, that is) compared to the second quarter of last year when the firm didn’t exist. In fairness, this wasn’t Cannon’s first go on the lobbying track: prior to being elected to office, he practiced law and lobbied with GrayRobinson. Nor are Cannon, Cretul and Pepper’s partners Alan Suskey, Richard Reeves, or Cynthia Lorenzo new to the game.
Capitol Insight represents HCA, the Villages, AXA Equitable Life Insurance, IMG College, and Millennium Laboratories –the firm’s five top-paying clients this quarter — along with AT&T, Centene, Walt Disney World Resort, the Conservation Campaign, the Florida Association of Realtors, and a few dozen others.
HCA alone compensated the team up to $99,999 for legislative and executive representation this quarter; while AXA and The Villages each chipped in as much as $79,999.
Each quarter, lobbyists who are registered to represent clients before Florida’s legislature or executive branch must submit reports detailing their client roster and compensation ranges. This week, reports are due for the period spanning April 1 through June 30, 2013 and reflect the year-round work that these firms do in representing interests that span every industry sector.
