City Registered Lobbyists Have Increased 500% Since 2011

It appears City of Tallahassee elected officials are becoming more and more popular among lobbyists.

Over the last seven years, the number of registered lobbyists have increased 500%, from 8 in 2011 to 48 in 2019. During this time, the number of registered lobbying firms has increased from 7 to 33.

See the trend in the chart below.

Consider these facts:

In 2011, seven lobbying firms with eight lobbyist were registered to lobby the City of Tallahassee on behalf of eight principals. These principals came from Florida, Arkansas and the District of Columbia.

In 2019, 33 lobbying firms with 48 lobbyist were registered to lobby the City of Tallahassee on behalf of 59 principals from fifteen different states and the District of Columbia.

The states represented are Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Maryland, New Jersey, Oregon, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Texas, and Utah.

Lobbying is defined by City ordinance as communications, whether written or oral, by a lobbyist outside a duly noticed public meeting or hearing with any member or members of the city commission or city employees for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a vote before the city commission.

The City of Tallahassee began requiring lobbyist to register in 2011.

The recently proposed amendments to the city’s ethics ordinance allows for stepped-penalties for repetitive violations of the lobbying registration requirements starting at $1,000 for a first violation.

Listed below are the registered lobbyists for 2019.