Campbell, UH top lobby list
| • | Table: The price of doing business |
By Jim Dooley
Advertiser Staff Writer
Campbell Estate spent $239,962 to lobby the president, U.S. Congress and U.S. Treasury Department for a special tax benefit contained in last year's $1.35 trillion tax package, according to reports filed with the U.S. Senate.
The estate was the biggest spender of Hawai'i's private businesses lobbying the federal government last year, with the Queen Emma Foundation in second place at $180,000. The University of Hawai'i led government agencies in lobbying expenses at $280,000 and Gov. Ben Cayetano's office spent $120,000, according to the reports.
The provision which provided a break to the Campbell Estate, developer of the Kapolei area of O'ahu, was backed by senators Dan Inouye and Dan Akaka, as well as Rep. Neil Abercrombie, and contained in the tax package signed by President Bush.
It allows businesses like Campbell Estate to defer estate taxes for four years and then spread the payments out over a 10-year period.
The provision will mean an enormous economic boon to the estate's beneficiaries when the benefit expires in 2007. The estate still will have to pay estate taxes, but not in a lump sum. The beneficiaries will be liable for interest on taxes which are not paid during the deferral period.
Abercrombie, who worked with Campbell Estate employee David Rae on the legislation, said he supported it because it would stop the estate from being liquidated to pay taxes and because the legislation will help numerous other family-owned businesses in Hawai'i.
Rep. Patsy Mink voted against the measure, as did Inouye and Akaka. Both senators said they supported the Campbell Estate provision in the bill but voted against the measure for other reasons. Both also said they knew the bill would pass despite their opposition.
Rae said in reports filed with the Senate that he incurred $175,000 in lobbying expenses in the first half of 2001 and another $64,962 in the second half of the year.
How the money was spent was not specified, but Rae said yesterday much of it went to Washington lobbyist Edwin T.C. Ing, who reported receiving $170,000 from the Campbell Estate last year for working on "tax reduction legislation."
The lobbying expenditures are separate from campaign contributions made by the estate and its employees to members of the Hawai'i congressional delegation.
Lobbying efforts for the University of Hawai'i, the governor's office and Queen Emma Foundation were handled by Cassidy & Associates, Inc., a major player in the Washington, D.C. lobbying industry. Henry Giugni, a former Inouye aide and a former sergeant-at-arms in the Senate, handled all three Hawai'i clients for the lobbying firm.
Both Cassidy & Associates and Giugni have lobbied for UH and the governor's office for years. Last year's spending levels were similar to amounts spent for the same clients in recent years, records show.
Cassidy used to lobby for The Queen's Medical Center, which is affiliated with the Queen Emma Foundation, but that relationship was terminated at the end of 2000, according to Senate files.
Last year's lobbying by Cassidy and Giugni for the Foundation centered on the Charitable Choice Act of 2001, a bill making it easier for faith-based groups to get federal money, among other provisions, as well as general monitoring of tax legislation, Giugni said in lobbying reports.
Work performed by Cassidy for the governor centered on money for expenses associated with the Asian Development Bank Conference, hosted in Honolulu last year.
The Hawai'i Department of Transportation also had its own lobbyist in Washington, the law firm of Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand.
That firm, which recently closed its Honolulu office, where former Gov. John Waihee worked, received $80,000 from the Hawai'i Transportation Department, according to senate records.
Hawaiian Airlines also had a lobbying presence in Washington last year, giving $40,000 to the law firm of Dow, Lohnes & Albertson for work on various aviation-related issues, according to Senate files.
Another local firm, Aloha Petroleum, Ltd., spent between $20,000 and $30,000 lobbying the Senate to "preclude double taxation where tax has been paid," according to reports filed by Washington lobbyist Morris J. Levin. Aloha petroleum president Thomas Malone couldn't be reached for comment on the double taxation problem.
Hawaiian Electric Co., Inc., reported spending less than $10,000 on lobbying services provided by the firm Van Ness Feldman, Senate records show.
Reach Jim Dooley at jdooley@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808) 535-2447.
