Secretive GOP lobbyists for FAIR Trust exploiting loophole in Arizona law

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Jim March, second vice chair of the Pima County Libertarian Party, has received a response from the Secretary of State to his complaint about lobbying by the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust before the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission. Here are the substantive portions of the response:

A lobbyist is "any person… who is employed by, retained by or representing a person other than himself, with or without compensation, for the purpose of lobbying…"

Lobbying is defined as "attempting to influence the passage or defeat of any legislation by directly communicating with any legislator… or attempting to influence any formal rule making proceeding pursuant to [A.R.S. §§ 41-1001 et seq.] or [exempt] rule making proceedings… by directly communicating with any state officer or employee."

As you correctly note, Arizona courts have concluded that the Independent Redistricting Commission performs a legislative function… This classification has not been extended to require the lobbyist registration of those who appear on matters before the IRC representing the interests of another. Nor is any legislation pending before the IRC. Therefore, even if Mr. Canteleme were engaging in what, before the legislature, would be considered lobbying on behalf of FAIR Trust, there is no violation of the law because the law does not require registration by those who attempt to influence the IRC. (emphasis added).

Here is the kicker, however:

As a policy matter, our office believes that the public interest would be better served by applying Title 41 lobbyist registration requirements to the IRC, and therefore we are considering proposing a statutory change at the next legislative session.

Good luck with that. When you have the unregistered lobbyists from the Goldwater Institute arguing for the weakening of already too weak lobbying rules in Arizona, G.I., "Capitol Watchdog," doing more than a little lobbying on the side, how far do you think the Secretary of State is going to get, even after the public humiliation from the Fiesta Bowl scandal?

The GOP's FAIR Trust lobbyists are exploiting a loophole in Arizona law to operate in the shadows behind a veil of secrecy. When people do this, it is fair to assume they are up to no good. What do they have to hide? If what they are doing is entirely legitimate, then they should have no problem with being transparent about it — especially when they are demanding transparency from the Commission and its contractors. Their hypocrisy is self-evident.

Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis famously said that "sunlight is the best disinfectant." It is time for the political media to shine a bright light on these cockroaches and see where they scatter. Or as Woodward and Bernstein learned, "follow the money."

After all, it is the media that likes to loudly proclaim once a year its support for Sunshine Week, a national initiative about the importance of open government and freedom of information. As it stands right now, we have neither from the secretive GOP redistricting organization FAIR Trust. They should be treated as a pariah by anyone who believes in good government.