Report tracks state lobbyists’ spending

CARSON CITY — Four days before the end of the 2007 Nevada Legislature, lobbyists had spent $165,800 on food and drinks at dinners, receptions and other events held to promote their clients’ interests, a new report shows.

Even without the first four days of June included in the report, lobbyist spending surpassed the 2005 legislative session total by more than $4,000. Both sums were far above the 2003 session, in which lobbyists spent just under $93,000.

The February-May spending this year included $159,215 spent on group events and $6,585 on individual legislators. The total for group events doesn’t include a spending breakdown for individual lawmakers who attended.

The lawmaker who received the most lobbyist largesse in May was Sen. Mike Schneider, D-Las Vegas, who got $375 worth of free food and drink, raising his session total to $800.

That knocked Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Morse Arberry, D-Las Vegas, to No. 2, with $566 over the session; followed by Assemblyman William Horne, D-Las Vegas, at $430; Senate Minority Leader Dina Titus, D-Las Vegas, at $328; Assembly Transportation Chairman Kelvin Atkinson, D-North Las Vegas, at $309; Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, at $253; Sen. Dennis Nolan, R-Las Vegas, at $222; Assemblyman Ed Goedhart, R-Amargosa Valley, at $208; Sen. Steven Horsford, D-North Las Vegas, at $207; and Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, at $187.

Lobbyists reported no individual spending on 11 of the 63 lawmakers; and less than $30 on nine others.

One of the 11 lawmakers noticeably absent from the lobbyists’ gift-list this session is Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno. During the 2005 session, Raggio received $306, the third highest sum in the Legislature.

Big-spending lobbyists in May were led by John Pappageorge, who threw a $7,500 end-of-session luncheon. Pappageorge’s many clients include developers, casino corporations, health care companies, major utilities, and retailers.

Other pricey May events included a $3,354 reception paid for Harley-Davidson Financial Services; a $3,083 reception paid for by AFSCME, a public employees union; and a $3,004 reception paid for by the State of Nevada Employees Association.

While the legislative reports provide some information on lobbying activity, they don’t include the lobbyists’ own expenses, such as their pay, housing, air fare, their own food and drinks and other related costs.

There’s also no follow-up accounting or auditing to determine whether the lobbyists are reporting accurately.

Because of that, Nevada’s reports are considered incomplete by some public watchdog groups, such as the Center for Public Integrity, which gave the state a failing grade in a survey of lobbyist disclosure laws around the nation.