Posted on: Friday, February 1,2002

Oil industry spent most on legislators

By Johnny Brannon
Advertiser Staff Writer

The gambling industry spent far less to lobby Hawai'i lawmakers in the second half of 2001 than during the same time the previous year, according to records filed with the state Ethics Commission.

But dozens of more conventional special interests — such as labor unions and the oil and medical industries — spent a total of nearly $1 million to tout their agendas.

The top spender was the Western States Petroleum Association, which paid lobbyists more than $111,000 between May and December, the period covered by disclosure statements due at the commission yesterday.

The WSPA's 36 member companies include Chevron and Tesoro, which operate the two refineries in the state. The group's top Hawai'i lobbyist, Linda Rosehill, said it will fight legislative attempts to regulate gasoline prices following the tentative settlement last month of the state's $2 billion antitrust suit against major oil companies.

"Anything that would try to regulate or control pricing or how an oil company does business would be something we'd be against generally," she said.

A flurry of bills that lawmakers have since introduced would attack gas prices in a variety of ways, such as requiring the state Public Utilities Commission to regulate gas prices, or even creating a state-owned gas production and distribution operation.

Rosehill said the oil industry prefers to allow a free market to determine gas prices, and that legislators shouldn't consider new regulations until the lawsuit settlement is finalized and evidence for the case is unsealed.

The WSPA spent roughly the same amount on lobbying during May to December of 2000, but was far outspent that year by the Hollywood Casino Corporation.

The Dallas-based gambling firm pumped $177,000 into its push during that period in 2000 for a dockside floating casino in Hawai'i. Hollywood eventually spent more than $200,000 lobbying, but said it dropped the plan because the limited political support to legalize gambling favored a land-based casino more. The company reported no lobbying in Hawai'i after that.

The pro-gambling Coalition for Economic Diversity, which reported spending nearly $45,000 on lobbyists during March and April last year, spent less than $9,000 in the eight months after that, according to the new reports.

The group is funded mostly by Sun International Hotels, which hopes to build an elaborate resort and casino at Ko Olina in Leeward O'ahu. Opponents fear gambling will increase crime and other social ills.

"Everyone's always saying they pay me huge amounts of money, but that's not much," said the coalition's director and chief lobbyist, Jim Boersema. "They [gambling opponents] insinuate that we're mercenaries, and that's not true. I think Hawai'i needs jobs, and I want to help bring them here."

The coalition lobbied heavily for the Sun plan last month, when the company's president visited Hawai'i to meet with numerous lawmakers and with Gov. Ben Cayetano. But since those meetings occurred after December, any lobbyist spending during that period will be reflected in a future report.

Another gambling-backed organization, Marketing Resource Group, had not filed its lobbying report by yesterday evening, but can avoid penalties if the document was postmarked by midnight.

The company, from Michigan, works for a group of investors that hope to set up casinos at Ko Olina and Waikiki, and spent about $11,000 to hire three lobbyists from January to April of last year. The main lobbyist, John Radcliffe, declined yesterday to say how much the company had paid him to lobby from May to December of 2001, and said he had no idea why the disclosure report had not been filed yet.

Marketing Resource Group could not be reached for comment.

Also spending heavily during the second half of 2001 were organized labor groups such as Unity House. The umbrella organization, funded by several unions, reported spending $100,853 during the reporting period.

The Hawaii Ironworkers Stabilization Fund, another union advocacy group, reported spending more than $72,000 on lobbyists from May to December.

"We lobby for items where something will aid both union and management, and right now it would naturally be for big construction projects" that keep workers employed, said Charlie Rogers, a lobbyist for the group.

The Ironworkers Union has lost many members over the past ten years because of a continued construction slump that lured workers to the Mainland, and the economic woes that followed the terrorist attacks in September make revitalizing the industry a top priority, said Raymond Mook, another lobbyist for the union.

The medical industry also spent significantly on lobbyists during the reporting period. Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc. spent $66,062, while the Hawai'i Medical Association spent $35,333 and Hawai'i Dental Services spent $30,338.

The semi-autonomous Board of Water Supply continued its four-year old policy of employing lobbyists to advocate on its behalf with more powerful branches of government. The board spent over $63,000 on lobbyists during the new reporting period.

Board manager and chief engineer Clifford Jamile said the money pays to keep the board informed about issues that could impact its operations, such as civil service reform, or O'ahu's water supply.

Others that spent more than $20,000 lobbying during the May to December period included Kamehameha Schools, the National Federation of Independent Business, The Pacific Resource Partnership, the Hawaii Restaurant Association, the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, the Hawai'i Pilots Association, the Hawaii Farm Bureau Federation, and the General Contractors' Association of Hawai'i.

In all, some 140 groups reported spending a total of $919,132 during the reporting period, though many others had yet to file their expenditure statements.