Here’s where lobbyists tried to influence some of Maryland’s biggest policy changes in 2023

On behalf of the companies, organizations and associations that hired them, lobbyists registered with Maryland’s State Ethics Commission tried to influence nearly every one of the almost 2,300 pieces legislation introduced by General Assembly members this year.

From high-profile, generational shifts like cannabis legalization to wonky policy changes around insurance or utility companies, they attempted — successfully or not — to make their mark, sometimes pocketing tens of thousands of dollars for just a few months of work, according to the disclosures lobbyists filed as required by state law.

Using those disclosures, testimony in hearings and other sourcing, here’s what we know about the lobbying on several well-known issues that came before lawmakers.

Cannabis

With millions of dollars at stake through the legalization of recreational marijuana, lobbyists representing cannabis, hemp or related companies spent more than $1,244,083 trying to tweak the framework for the new industry, a significant jump from the $876,357 the same companies spent the year before.

Some of that played out in public, as lobbyists and their clients pitched lawmakers during hearings that stretched for hours and included hundreds of witnesses.

Eddie Pounds, a lobbyist for Perry White Ross Jacobson, testified in a Senate hearing for Ascend Wellness Holdings, which he said had a pending agreement to acquire four Maryland dispensaries. The bill would have reduced the maximum number of dispensary licenses allowed for one individual from four to two, and one of Pounds’ requests was to move that back to four. That change, which other lobbyists also advocated for, was later adopted.

While Pounds did not file a lobbying disclosure showing compensation from Ascend, he reported 10 other cannabis companies as clients, six of whom paid him a combined $103,600. Pounds did not respond to a request for comment.

Frank Boston III, who described himself as a founder and lobbyist for Green Leaf Medical during his testimony in the House, asked lawmakers for more leeway for businesses that wanted to offer delivery of recreational cannabis. The proposal was not adopted; the final law allows delivery only for medical products and only by smaller dispensaries that will open next year. Boston reported $60,000 in compensation from the company during the period.

Others who didn’t get what they wanted from the bill were hemp companies.

Maryland Healthy Alternatives Association, whose co-founder Nicholas Patrick testified passionately during a hearing, pointing to people in the audience whose hemp businesses he said would go out of business because of the law, paid $55,000 to four lobbyists during the period, a slight increase from the year before.

Several hemp companies recently sued the state, saying the adopted rules harm their businesses.

[ Who paid lobbyists a total of $48.8 million to influence Maryland lawmaking, and what did they get? ]

Guns

Bills restricting who can carry firearms and where they can go were the subjects of some of the fiercest debates this year as Democrats who control both chambers made it clear they would go as far as the U.S. Constitution allows after a U.S. Supreme Court decision set aside a previous Maryland law.

But the disclosures show that advocates and stakeholders on both sides weren’t necessarily opening their wallets for lobbyists.

The National Rifle Association spent just under $43,000 and the Maryland Licensed Firearms Dealers Association, which represents gun shops, spent $20,000. All or most of that was compensation for Boston. He also was paid $46,667 to oppose the gun control and other bills for the Maryland Fraternal Order of Police.

“My clients understand the dynamics of the Maryland legislature and at a minimum would like to have a voice, be heard and have a seat at the table as the policy is being shaped,” Boston said in an interview.

Maryland Shall Issue, a pro-gun rights group with several members who testified at the hearings, did not register any lobbyists. Now a plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of what became the Gun Safety Act of 2023, the group describes itself as a volunteer organization.

Everytown for Gun Safety Action Fund, the advocacy group founded by billionaire and former New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, spent $99,365 during the period, a nearly 50% jump from the same time last year.

Child Victims Act

Public lobbying around the Child Victims Act — which gives victims of sexual abuse a two-year window to file civil suits for older cases — was almost entirely in favor of the bill.

Still, the Maryland Catholic Conference, which represents the three Roman Catholic dioceses operating in Maryland and which opposed the bill, increased its efforts this session, the new disclosures show. The conference spent $209,939 between November and early May — about a 50% jump from the year before.

The difference this year was largely a $30,000 payment to Rick Abbruzzese, a former Gov. Martin O’Malley spokesman, a Democrat. The Catholic conference paid Abbruzzese in previous years, although not in the 2021-22 lobbying year. Another part of the increased spending was $19,681 to Brian Barnwell, a new lobbyist who works directly by the conference.

The conference also paid former Sen. Robert “Bobby” Zirkin $20,000, as well as three other conference employees registered as lobbyists, including its executive director, Jenny Kraska. She submitted written testimony that said the retroactive window could have a “devastating impact … by exposing public and private institutions — and the communities they serve — to unsubstantiated claims of abuse.”

The conference, which has spent $817,817 on lobbying in the last three and a half years, testified this year on a range of other topics, including in support of a minimum wage increase and gun control.

Horse racing

An embattled industry reliant on state support, Maryland horse racing associations and racetracks spent $641,156 for the first half of the current lobbying year, about 13% more than a year ago.

The increase came as lawmakers set up a Maryland Thoroughbred Racetrack Operating Authority to study the industry and oversee projects outlined when the state agreed to make a $375 million investment in the Laurel Park and Pimlico tracks in 2020 but which have since stalled.

The Maryland Jockey Club, which runs both tracks, has been among the companies spending the most on lobbyists in recent years. It has spent $2.2 million since November 2019 and $335,618 in the recent six-month period, according to disclosures. Most of has gone to Rifkin Weiner Livingston, where lobbyist Michael Johansen reported an average of $168,500 in compensation in each six-month period, including $185,000 so far this year.

While legislators like Senate President Bill Ferguson, a Baltimore Democrat, have said there’s declining interest among lawmakers and the public to keep propping up the industry, they still see it as a tradition that brings economic benefits to the state.

Energy and the environment

Energy companies — with regulations and laws that could affect their bottom line consistently up for debate in Annapolis — spend some of the most money on lobbying.

Companies like Exelon, FirstEnergy, Washington Gas and their subsidiaries combine to spend millions each year, often teaming up to support or oppose bills affecting utilities. In recent years, the Democrats in control of the General Assembly have pushed the state toward renewable energy strategies.

Among environmentalists and the companies alike, wind power was a top focus in 2023.

The Promoting Offshore Wind Energy Resources — or POWER — Act increased the state’s commitment to producing power from turbines off the coast from 1.2 gigawatts to 8.5 gigawatts by 2031. In April, more than 100 people gathered as Democratic Gov. Wes Moore signed the bill at Sparrows Point, where key components of wind turbines will be produced.

The manufacturer — international energy firm Orsted — spent the most on lobbyists out of six wind energy companies that combined to spend $250,725 in the recent six-month period, The Baltimore Sun found. That was nearly twice what the companies spent during each of the last two years.

Orsted, with $152,000 in expenses, spent about $49,000 more than it did in the same period in each of the last three years. It hired an in-house lobbyist last November.

Environmental groups like the Chesapeake Climate Action Network and the Maryland League of Conservation Voters also pushed the wind bill during the session. Both groups spent less overall during the 2023 session compared to the year before, when lawmakers passed broader and aggressive climate goals.

Health

Issues surrounding health care and insurance are some of the most lobbied areas in Maryland, with institutions like Johns Hopkins and CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield consistently among the top spenders to influence policy every year.

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, with $425,354, and Johns Hopkins, with $416,261, were the second and third biggest spenders on lobbying this year. Each with internal and outside lobbyists, they reported trying to influence a wide array of bills, including a bill opposed by CareFirst that, among several provisions, would have changed the prior authorization process that forces providers to first get approval from insurers to deliver care in certain instances. That bill did not pass.

Another bill targeting institutions that conduct animal testing and research passed with amendments proposed by Johns Hopkins, including the removal of a provision that would have required additional state licensing for such testing.

Smaller businesses also can affect health policy.

In one case this year, a proposal to ban the sale or production of flavored tobacco products failed at the same time as more than a half-dozen tobacco companies whose lobbyists said they targeted it spent a combined $427,000 on lobbying.

Some of them testified at the one and only hearing on the bill in January. Two lobbyists for Rifkin Weiner Livingston testified alongside their clients in the Premium Cigar Association of Maryland and later reported earning $16,000 from the group during the lobbying period. Another lobbyist for Compass Government Relations spoke for the Maryland Vape Alliance and introduced written testimony from six vape shop owners and workers. He later disclosed $9,000 in compensation from the group.

Others worked behind the scenes, but later disclosed they had targeted the bill. Boston reported $75,000 in compensation from Altria, the tobacco company conglomerate formerly known as Phillip Morris. Two lobbyists from Harris Jones & Malone — Caitlin McDonough and Lisa Jones — reported $70,000 and $34,000, respectively — from Juul Labs, the electronic cigarette company. And Bruce Bereano reported $7,500 from the Maryland Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors.

Minimum wage

Moore’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15 ahead of schedule was a campaign priority. His bill passed, but legislators made two changes that benefited businesses — delaying the increase from Moore’s preferred Oct. 1 date to Jan. 1, and removing a provision that would have raised the wage automatically every year.

It’s unclear how much lobbying was done specifically on the issue.

The disclosures show dozens of lobbyists for a variety of companies — from Walmart and Home Depot to Microsoft and CarMax — listed the minimum wage bills among many they targeted. Lobbyists for only one entity, the national group One Fair Wage, disclosed lobbying just on those bills. The group paid two lobbyists at O’Malley, Miles, Nylen & Gilmore a total of $30,000 in compensation.

The Maryland Chamber of Commerce, for its part, was the fifth-highest spending individual group during the six-month period, with $382,000 in lobbying expenses. In testimony during the minimum wage hearings, its lobbyists urged lawmakers to strike the provision to automatically raise the wage each year. Lawmakers later cited the cost to businesses as the reason for cutting that from the bill.

Originally published in The Baltimore Sun by Sam Janesch.