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As a new governor and Legislature took office at the state Capitol last year, both lobbyist registrations and overall related spending hit record highs in Louisiana, a state that elevates politics as a sport and a profession.
The supporting data, compiled by the Ethics Administration, covers executive, legislative and local government filings, but the growth area can definitely be found among those seeking influence over the House and Senate.
During calendar year 2024, total lobbying expenditures reached nearly $670,000, a new state record, with most, about $568,000, going toward legislative lobbying.
Registrations followed the same trend line, with 728 lobbyists signing up with the Ethics Administration in 2024, marking a 10-year high.
How much the growth seen over the past two decades reflects actual growth of the lobbying sector is debatable. The spending totals in particular have a lot to do with inflation, since the spending limits are indexed.
But looking back even further, the overall trend of a larger, savvier lobbying corps is unmissable, even if the core group at the state Capitol remains mostly made up of familiar faces.
“We have watched governmental affairs nationwide explode and grow in the statehouses,” lobbyist Randy Haynie says. “You now have to have somebody in the Capitol reading every word that’s introduced, reading and staying up with every amendment to bills, because they can change rapidly in a hearing.”
When Haynie started in 1980, there were fewer than 50 registered lobbyists, he recalls. One person represented all of local government, one stood for doctors and hospitals, one represented all the railroads and so on, he says.
“Competitors realized sometimes they weren’t on the same page and ended up hiring separate lobbyists to take care of their individual business versus letting a trade group do it for them,” Haynie says.
Jesse McCormick, board president for the Association of Louisiana Lobbyists, says the low barrier to entry makes lobbying an appealing profession for someone who is interested in politics, is good at building relationships and has an entrepreneurial spirit.
He says term limits, leading to more churn among legislators, have been good for his career. Veteran lawmakers with multidecade relationships with his competitors probably wouldn’t be eager to hear from a 25-year-old newly minted lobbyist.
“It’s the greatest job in the world,” McCormick says. “You’ve just got to find somebody to pay you to do it.”
There can be an uptick in lobbying in the first and second years of an administration around procurement, as the new group puts things out to bid, says lobbyist Mary-Patricia Wray. New board and commission appointments mean new people to educate and persuade, she adds.
And special sessions create more work. As you probably recall, last year featured three special sessions to go with the regular one. There was also an organizational session that kicked off the term.
It’s also worth noting that it’s impossible to tell, based on the raw numbers, how many of those folks actually would be considered full-time or even part-time lobbyists. As Wray and others note, many people likely register out of an abundance of caution.
“Due to the likelihood that complaints could be filed against you for failure to disclose and register, people are cautious, and therefore more likely to register as a lobbyist when they have only approached what the definition is,” she says.
Ty Bromell, the immediate past president of the state lobbyist association board, attributes basically all of the growth in the numbers to that “just to be on the safe side” CYA factor.
“The number of people who are actually lobbying, who are at the Capitol, I haven’t seen that number grow at all,” he says, noting that some of the “elder statesmen” have retired. “I’m thinking lobbying is declining, as far as those you see at the Capitol on a regular basis.”
Bromell dates the registration explosion back to the “gold standard of ethics” implemented during Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration.
“We went up to like 550 registered lobbyists overnight, and we were all laughing about that,” veteran lobbyist Joe Mapes recalls. “They had to register because the law was very specific: If you do A, B and C, you shall register.”
Many were not people who were making their living off of the process, or even necessarily understood the process; they might have been just monitoring and reporting back to their association or employer, he says. Even today, he numbers the core group at around 20 or so.
But at the same time, competition for lawmakers’ attention can be fierce, Mapes says. “It’s not that easy to get on their schedule.”
House Natural Resources and Environment Chair Brett Geymann is at the epicenter of much of the recent lobbying activity. His committee is dealing with several issues that are controversial and highly technical, and often have a lot of money at stake, including carbon capture and wind and solar development.
“We have all these new things coming,” he says. “These companies are hiring more and more lobbyists to make sure they’re represented.”
Many are people from out of state whom he had not met until recently. He says knowledgeable lobbyists are a useful resource for himself and his committee.
“Whether you agree with them or not, you can learn from them,” Geymann says.
Rep. Neil Riser, like Geymann a highly experienced lawmaker, hasn’t seen an increase in the sheer number of lobbyists at the Capitol. But he has noticed an uptick in the number of “hired gun” lobbyists from out of state who may lack the trust factor that is earned over time.
Riser says he won’t lie to the advocates, and he expects the same from them.
“If not, that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends, but that means we can’t work together,” he says.
Rep. Francis Thompson, the longest-serving state legislator in Louisiana history, certainly has seen a lot of change over his five decades of service. For one, technology enables both lawmakers and lobbyists to be better informed on the issues, he says.
But one thing that hasn’t changed about the dynamics between the two groups is the importance of relationships.
“I need the lobbyists to tell me the good, the bad and the ugly, as they see it,” Thompson says.
