Lobbyists see a new chance with stimulus

K Street lobbyists sense a major opportunity with the upcoming economic stimulus package and are hoping to attach some of their own priorities this week to the moving legislation.

The chance to push their clients’ needs is too tempting for lobbyists to pass up, especially considering that the stimulus package could be one of only a handful of moving vehicles that pass in the election year.

{mosads}Many welcomed the news last week that the Senate intends to take a closer look at the deal brokered by the House and Bush administration. Slowing the process down allows a wide range of interest groups — from meatpackers to renewable-energy producers to financiers — more time to get in on what is now a $150 billion package.

Even if they can’t get their priorities attached this time around, the measure offers groups a chance to promote their messages.

“It is a target of opportunity — not just for dollars, but for its capacity to get the message out,” said Howard Marlowe, president of Marlowe & Company.

Lobbyists will not all be following the same playbook. Some groups are dressing up longstanding and often sweeping priorities, while others are attempting to shoehorn parochial goals into the bill.

The American Meat Institute wants Congress to lift ethanol tariffs, which it blames for high meat prices. The tourism industry argues that legislation to promote travel to the United States would help to revive the economy.

“Economic Stimulus Package — An Excellent New Opportunity,” reads one blast fax from the National Forest Counties and Schools Coalition to its members. The group wants to attach a measure that would provide funding for rural schools and roads.

Meanwhile, the financial industry is pushing a tax change that would allow companies to “carry back” big operating losses from this year in order to trim previous tax bills. That would help Wall Street giants like Citigroup and Merrill Lynch that suffered huge losses due to the sub-prime mortgage mess.  

Then there’s the push by general contractors for more spending on public works projects. The goal has attracted passionate Senate backers on both sides of the aisle even though economists say it isn’t likely to spur the economy in the short run. {mospagebreak}

Many of the business items stand little chance of enactment, particularly if the Senate moves fast to send a stimulus bill to Bush by Feb. 15. That’s where a second stimulus comes in.

As one lobbyist put it, “Everyone thought they had to put in their two cents whether they would get it or not [on the first stimulus].” Now the thinking goes, “I got on the first list, so I have got to get on the second list.”

{mosads}But having a long debate on the legislation carries some risks for the business lobby. Lawmakers could attach anti-business provisions to what is increasingly viewed as must-pass legislation: As voters come to expect tax rebates, neither Bush nor congressional leaders will want to be seen as standing in the way.

Banks and mortgage lenders fear a proposal that would allow bankruptcy judges to readjust the terms of home loans. “I’m more worried about what could be in the stimulus bill than excited about the prospect of a bill,” acknowledged one financial services lobbyist.

Other business lobbyists are concerned that a lobbying blitz could slow or even derail the bill, squandering a chance to bolster consumers.

Lobbyists should temporarily set aside longstanding goals — such as slashing corporate tax rates — in order to get something done fast, argued Jade West, a lobbyist for the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors who runs the Tax Relief Coalition.

“This is not a ‘Gucci Gulch’ tax bill,” she said, referring to the book chronicling the heated lobbying on the 1986 tax reform. “They need to get money into the hands of consumers very quickly.”

Many lobbyists are reprising efforts from last year that failed due to spending cuts or stalled legislation. Marlowe, who represents a waterfront preservation group, is lobbying for more funds in the stimulus to repair the country’s levees and dams.

Gregory Wetstone, a lobbyist for the wind energy industry, is pushing for the extension of a production tax credit that was dropped from the energy bill. With only one year left before it expires, the industry sees the credit as a top priority.

Wetstone is hopeful the tax credit will be resurrected in the stimulus bill. “The stimulus package is moving quickly [and] is a place of great bipartisan cooperation,” he said. “My sense is there is some possibility here.”