Group says state lawmaker-to-lobbyist rules not strong enough
Maryland should impose a longer “cooling-off period” before state lawmakers can become lobbyists, according to the advocacy group Public Citizen.
Public Citizen reviewed policies in the federal government and all 50 states that are designed to limit the “revolving door” of politicians leaving office, only to return to the halls of government to lobby for private interests.
Maryland is among 33 states that impose a one-year time limit before former state lawmakers can become lobbyists. Eight states have no restrictions at all.
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In a new report for Public Citizen, authors Craig Holman and Caralyn Esser write that politicians-turned-lobbyists “have access to lawmakers that is not available to others, access that can be sold to the highest bidder among industries seeking to lobby.” That means that wealthy special interests can pay to gain access to government in ways “unavailable to the rest of the public,” they wrote.
Public Citizen praises cooling-off periods as a valuable tool, but says that one-year periods — such as in Maryland — are “clearly too short.” Maryland’s cooling-off period only applies to lawmakers, not executive branch politicians or employees, which Public Citizen also finds deficient.
Public Citizen suggests two years as a minimum cooling-off period.
Tierra D. Bradford, policy manager for the good-government advocacy group Common Cause Maryland, said the Public Citizen report addresses an important issue.
Bradford said Common Cause Maryland also endorses a cooling-off period of at least two years.
“It is important that a substantive amount of time passes between a public official’s time in office and any subsequent position lobbying on behalf of private entities,” she said.
Common Cause Maryland also supports extending the cooling-off period to executive branch officials, who “can be just as influential” as former legislators.
Florida will impose a six-year cooling-off period starting at the end of 2022, believed to be the longest in the nation.
Public Citizen rates Iowa as having the best revolving-door policy, because its twoyear cooling-off period applies to both lawmakers, executive branch officials and their staffs.
Public Citizen ranks eight state’s as the “worst” for having no restrictions: Idaho, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Wyoming.