TALLAHASSEE – Three decades ago, lobbyist Ron Book persuaded a public hospital to pay him to protect its interests in a faraway Capitol, just as private businesses do. “It’s just a necessity to make sure that taxpayers are properly represented,” Book says. “We’re smart enough to understand the system.” Cities, counties, colleges, school districts, sheriffs, airports and seaports all pay lobbyists to help them fight for state money, protect home rule powers and fend off political interference in Tallahassee. But what local officials call a necessity, the new House speaker, Rep. Richard Corcoran, R-Land O’Lakes, calls wasteful. He says taxpayers should not have to pay so that one group of politicians can talk to another, using well-connected lobbyists as intermediaries. But lobbying paid for by taxpayers is an easy target for Corcoran, a conservative firebrand who two years ago launched a populist crusade against “Gucci-loafing, shoe-wearing special interests” in a pitched debate over healthcare expansion. Corcoran tried in November to outlaw taxpayer-funded lobbying as part of his broader strategy against business as usual in the Capitol. It’s unclear where taxpayers save money if governments stop hiring contract lobbyists. If a local government has its own employee do the lobbying, that work would be paid for by taxpayers, too. If a local government has its elected officials do their own lobbying, which Corcoran favors, there’s a cost with that, too.
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