HARRISBURG \u2014 At least 48 former members of Pennsylvania\u2019s General Assembly are now registered lobbyists seeking to influence policies they once shaped, according to a Spotlight PA analysis.<\/p>\n
They range from former rank-and-file lawmakers to the onetime most powerful members of the Legislature. Their clients span a range of prominent industries \u2014 often ones the lobbyist was once involved in legislating, a review of the state\u2019s lobbying disclosure database shows.<\/p>\n
Lawmakers-turned-lobbyists generally defend this practice. Petitioning the government is protected speech under the First Amendment, they note, and their elected experience helps clients navigate the opaque legislative process. But critics, from fellow lawmakers to good-government groups, say it incentivizes legislators to be cozy with special interests, then lets them leverage relationships they built on the public\u2019s dime to turn a profit.<\/p>\n
Efforts to tighten the reins on lawmakers becoming lobbyists have failed in Pennsylvania, despite bipartisan interest\u00a0just a few years ago. This legislative session, no proposals have advanced outside their assigned committees.<\/p>\n
Roy Afflerbach, a former Democratic state legislator for the Lehigh Valley who\u2019s been registered to lobby since 2007, told Spotlight PA that he knows that people view a lobbyist as an \u201coverloaded, cigar-smoking, cash-carrying man cutting deals in a backroom.\u201d However, he argued that the job is more about relationships, communication and information gathering.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe greater concern is not the public official who becomes a lobbyist, but the industrialist who funds their own person who becomes an elected official,\u201d Afflerbach said. \u201cThe lobbyist can ask for a decision, but can\u2019t make it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another legislator-turned-lobbyist, Republican Stan Saylor, argued that the profession is broadly able to self-regulate.<\/p>\n
\u201cLobbyists police our own,\u201d Saylor told Spotlight PA. \u201cIf you get a reputation as a lobbyist as rude, crude or not nice, you\u2019re not very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
But Andrea Beaty, assistant director of the Revolving Door Project in Washington, D.C., argued that hiring former lawmakers can give industries and corporations extra power in their attempts to \u201cexert their influence\u201d on government.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re capitalizing on that former official\u2019s really close ties to government and that insider knowledge that they bring from having experienced and been a part of legislative or executive branch proceedings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania law does little to impede the close relationship between lawmaking and lobbying. Lawmakers only have to wait a year before they can lobby the chamber or office where they once served.<\/p>\n
If someone runs afoul of that law, it\u2019s up to the State Ethics Commission to hold them accountable. The commission, which only investigates potential violations in response to a formal complaint, reported two violations of the revolving-door provision last year, according to its\u00a0annual report.<\/p>\n
Allen Kukovich, a former Democratic state lawmaker from western Pennsylvania, successfully passed a House rule in 1979 that bars representatives who are also attorneys from being paid to represent any person or group before state departments, boards, agencies, bureaus or commissions. This arrangement, Kukovich said, allowed lawmakers to profit from their office and was a clear conflict of interest. The rule is still in place.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not uncommon for lobbying firms to approach someone with Kukovich\u2019s resume when they retire from the Legislature. He received offers but never followed up on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t that popular, and I made it clear it was something I\u2019d never do,\u201d Kukovich said. \u201cI was never tempted in any way.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added to Spotlight PA that strong ethics rules on issues like the revolving door help government maintain public trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt may not seem like a big deal, but when you look at the whole of Harrisburg, it looks corrupt, and that\u2019s bad for the system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u2018Why people hire you\u2019<\/p>\n
Spotlight PA\u2019s analysis of lawmakers-turned-lobbyists showed that former members are now regularly lobbying for organizations they were involved with regulating \u2014 or deregulating \u2014 while in office.<\/p>\n
Take Aaron Kaufer, a Republican who represented part of Luzerne County in the state House until late 2024. While in office, he\u00a0sponsored unsuccessful legislation\u00a0to create an adult-use marijuana program. Earlier this year, he accepted cannabis company Cresco Labs as his first client when he registered as a lobbyist.<\/p>\n
Republican Jim Gregory of Blair County, meanwhile, sat on the state House\u2019s Gaming Oversight Committee for two legislative sessions and co-sponsored a bill to\u00a0regulate skill games\u00a0at an industry-backed tax rate before he left office in 2024. Now, he represents\u00a0skill games\u00a0manufacturer Pace-O-Matic to his former colleagues.<\/p>\n
Those types of situations raise a red flag for Beaty. If a lawmaker is focused on ensuring they can get hired as a lobbyist after leaving public service, she said, that could shift their focus while representing their constituents in the Capitol.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s this dangling opportunity of the potential of a nice cushy corporate job once they leave government,\u201d Beaty said. \u201cIt changes incentives for the folks who are still in government because it makes it a little bit more difficult, a little bit more questioning of whether or not you want to go back on what a corporation is asking for.\u201d<\/p>\n
Neither Kaufer nor Gregory responded to questions from Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n
David Mayernik, a former Democratic representative who has lobbied since 2007, said it wouldn\u2019t be possible to stop Pennsylvania lawmakers from lobbying on issues they have history with in the General Assembly: \u201cThat\u2019s why people hire you.\u201d<\/p>\n
If the practice was banned, he said, lobbyists would simply work \u201cbehind the scenes\u201d to \u201cpull the strings\u201d by suggesting their friends and colleagues advocate to lawmakers.<\/p>\n
However, Mayernik does think there is a way to cut down the number of lawmakers representing the industries they were involved with while in office: extend the cool-down period between a legislative exit and lobbying registration to at least five years. Such a gap would allow for more staff turnover, he argued.<\/p>\n
As it stands, the law is permissive about lawmakers who want to start working for lobbying entities, even while still in office.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, a state lawmaker who asked the State Ethics Commission for an opinion last year: Sometime during his term, he planned to accept a job at an organization that lobbies public officials. The lawmaker would recuse himself from certain votes while serving out his final term, but he would represent his new employer before the federal government while still in office.<\/p>\n
After leaving office, the lawmaker said he\u2019d refrain from representing the organization before his former chamber for a year, as required by state law. For the other legislative chamber, he would wait just one day.<\/p>\n
The plan was fine, the Ethics Commission ruled.<\/p>\n
(The lawmaker\u2019s name was redacted in the public filing, but the details match ex-state Rep. Seth Grove, a York County Republican who began leading a trade group last year; Grove declined to say if the filing was his. He is not currently registered as a lobbyist.)<\/p>\n
Among lawmakers, it\u2019s not only rank-and-file members who become lobbyists. The most powerful legislators in the commonwealth \u2014 who helped shape nearly every aspect of state policy during their tenures \u2014 do the same.<\/p>\n
Both Jake Corman, who led the state Senate, and Saylor, who chaired the state House\u2019s powerful budget committee, work at One+ Strategies with two other former lawmakers. The firm\u2019s clients include CVS Health, PPL Electric Utilities and Uber.<\/p>\n
Joe Scarnati, another former Senate leader, started his own shop called Allegheny Strategy Partners. His firm\u2019s high-profile client list includes Amazon, UPMC, General Motors, multiple utility companies and Comcast.<\/p>\n
Democrat Bill DeWeese, who was speaker of the state House, joined the lobbying ranks after serving time in prison on corruption charges. DeWeese, who said he isn\u2019t as active in the Capitol as he used to be, firmly denied there being a possible conflict of interest with former public servants becoming lobbyists.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Constitution allows for freedom of expression,\u201d he said. \u201cJust because someone served in the General Assembly then went on to their own endeavors should not proscribe their ability to make a living.\u201d<\/p>\n
DeWeese also said the modern legislator has so much information available to them, compared to when he served, that he doesn\u2019t think lobbyists do much more than add \u201cextra context on the periphery.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018De facto corruption risk\u2019<\/p>\n
Pennsylvania has seen a number of high-profile efforts to crack down on lobbying fail.<\/p>\n
Five years ago, leaders from\u00a0both legislative chambers\u00a0weighed a broad lobbying reform package. Talks included whether to ban lobbyists from participating in political consulting work, bar state agencies from hiring lobbyists, and restrict public officials who were once lobbyists from being solicited by their former co-workers. None of the\u00a0resulting legislation\u00a0reached a committee vote.<\/p>\n
More recently, in 2023, a key state Senate committee unanimously\u00a0approved legislation\u00a0that would have extended Pennsylvania\u2019s wait period to two years, like\u00a0several other states\u00a0including, recently,\u00a0Michigan. The effort stalled without a vote on the Senate floor.<\/p>\n
Majority Caucus Chair Kristin Phillips-Hill, R-York, led the charge on the more recent legislation. She still wants to extend the window to two years.<\/p>\n
Phillips-Hill told Spotlight PA that an ex-lawmaker\u2019s relationships with their former colleagues can be \u201cused by other entities for biased access,\u201d once the public official offers their services as a lobbyist.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have knowledge, expertise and connections that were acquired in the service of the constituents that entrusted them to represent them, that could be used for other entities,\u201d Phillips-Hill said. \u201cThat, in turn, can create problems in terms of public trust.\u201d<\/p>\n
State Rep. Joe Webster, D-Montgomery, wants to extend the wait period to five years \u2014 which would give Pennsylvania the second-longest moratorium in the country, behind Florida\u2019s six years. Last year, he argued in a memo seeking support that the revolving door \u201ccreates a de facto corruption risk, and must be addressed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lobbying after serving as a lawmaker is not inherently a negative thing on the surface, Webster told Spotlight PA. What happens behind closed doors, he said, is what \u201cerodes\u201d the sanctity of the institution.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe should face the fact that if a former colleague is walking the halls of the Capitol, that\u2019s a friend,\u201d Webster said. \u201cThat\u2019s a person who has access and influence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrisburg leadership offered few specifics on what reforms they support or think are needed when asked by Spotlight PA.<\/p>\n
Spokespeople for Senate Republicans and Gov. Josh Shapiro did not reply to requests for comment.<\/p>\n
Beth Rementer, a spokesperson for state House Democrats, told Spotlight PA that the caucus is reviewing Webster\u2019s proposal, but she did not say whether Majority Leader Matt Bradford, D-Montgomery, supports the bill.<\/p>\n
\u201cStakeholders are always welcome to share their concerns and ideas with lawmakers because these conversations help craft solutions to make life better for Pennsylvanians,\u201d Rementer said. \u201cNo matter who schedules a meeting with a member \u2014 whether it\u2019s a concerned citizen, an organization or a lobbyist \u2014 all conversations should be treated with the same consideration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spotlight PA is an independent, nonpartisan and nonprofit newsroom producing investigative and public-service journalism that holds power to account and drives positive change in Pennsylvania. Sign up for our free newsletters.<\/p>\n
Did we miss a former lawmaker registered as a lobbyist? Email reporters Jaxon White and Stephen Caruso at jwhite@spotlightpa.org and scaruso@spotlightpa.org.<\/p>\n
BEFORE YOU GO \u2026 If you learned something from this article, pay it forward and contribute to Spotlight PA at spotlightpa.org\/donate. This story was funded in part thanks to the support of the Lancaster County Local Journalism Fund.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG \u2014 At least 48 former members of Pennsylvania\u2019s General Assembly are now registered lobbyists seeking to influence…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":280545,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[182,139,28,30,29,50,181],"class_list":["post-280544","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-local-news","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-politics","tag-top-stories-stt"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280544","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=280544"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/280544\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/280545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=280544"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=280544"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=280544"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}