Lawmakers Get One-Two Punch of Money From Health Industry Special Interests

A new collaborative investigation by the Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics has found that many of the major players in the health insurance reform debate have hit members of Congress with a one-two punch of campaign contributions from at least 10 of their hired, outside lobbyists on top of donations from their employees or political action committees.

Since January 2007, more than 500 individual lobbyists who fit these criteria donated roughly $2.8 million to 61 members of Congress who also received about $1.9 million from the companies’ PACs or employees. These lobbyists represented 25 major health care and health insurance organizations.

Here is a table of the top Senate recipients of these contributions. (Read more about the methodology here.)

Among the 61 recipients of these joint contributions are 11 senators who sit on the 23-member Senate Finance Committee, which is chaired by Sen. Max Baucus (D-Mont.). Baucus ranked as the third highest recipients of such contributions, accepting about $201,000 from 109 lobbyists representing 11 health-related organizations, plus an additional $252,750 from the lobbying clients’ employees or PACs. (The Sunlight Foundation illustrates these contributions, pictured in the image above, in graphic form here.)

Four other Democratic senators on the Finance committee also received such contributions: Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Blanche Lincoln (D-Ark.), Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Deborah Stabenow (D-Mich.). These lawmakers combined received roughly one-sixth of Baucus’ haul — averaging about $19,800 in contributions per person from these clients and their external lobbyists during the two-and-a-half year period studied.

On the other side of the aisle, 60 percent of the Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee were found to have accepted campaign contributions from these major health-related organizations and their outside lobbyists.

Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) received the most in such contributions, with $130,620 from these lobbyists and their clients, followed by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), who received $78,450. Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) and John Cornyn (R-Texas) round out the list of GOP recipients.

These Republican lawmakers received an average of $67,700 per person from these clients and their external lobbyists during the two-and-a-half year period studied.

Politicians With Tough Re-Election Contests Also Made the List

Beyond the Senate Finance Committee, several high-profile senators with tough re-elections battles also made the list of top recipients of the combined “bundles” of lobbyist-client giving.

Sen. Arlen Specter (D-Penn.) ranks fourth overall, behind Baucus, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) — though much of McCain’s money was directed at his presidential campaign last year.

Between January 1, 2007, and June 30, 2009, Specter received about $225,500 in contributions from seven major health care and health insurance organizations and 67 of their hired lobbyists.

Earlier this year, former Club for Growth president and ex-Rep. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.) announced his intent to run against Specter in a Republican primary. Specter then switched his party alliance to become a Democrat, although he now faces a contentious primary challenge from Rep. Joe Sestak (D-Penn.).

Next up after Specter? Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), a key member of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, who stewarded that committee’s health reform legislation while Chairman Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) battled brain cancer.

Between January 2007 and June 2009, Dodd received about $187,800 in contributions from six major health care and health insurance organizations and 63 of their hired lobbyists.

Numerous Republicans, including former WWE chief executive Linda McMahon, are vying to unseat Dodd.

Also among the senators in the top half of the list: Freshman Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), who was appointed by Colorado’s Democratic governor to fill the vacancy created when President Barack Obama in January tapped Ken Salazar for secretary of the interior. (Obama has since also endorsed Bennet over former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff in a Democratic primary race.)

The political action committee of drug company Amgen has contributed just $1,500 to Bennet, and employees the Amgen, plus the employees of the drug industry trade group PhRMA have given Bennet an additional, if modest, $1,750. Yet, 27 lobbyists representing these two major pharmaceutical players have contributed $35,950 to Bennet since he assumed office.

On the House side, three powerful Republicans and two high-profile Democrats top the list (see table below).

Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) has received $157,500 from three health-related organizations and 32 of their hired outside lobbyists since January 2007.

Rep. Dave Camp (R-Mich.), the ranking member on the House Ways and Means Committee, one of three committees with jurisdiction over the House’s health care reform legislation, has received $83,500 from two major groups (PhRMA and America’s Health Insurance Plans) and 40 of their hired outside lobbyists since January 2007. Both groups have been vocally opposing Democratic attempts to create a public health insurance option

Rep. Kendrick Meeks (D-Fla.), who is running for the Senate seat now held by Republican George LeMieux, after Republican Mel Martinez‘s retirement last month, has received about $68,900 from four health insurance and pharmaceutical companies and 49 of their hired outside lobbyists since January 2007.

Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) has received $58,500 from PhRMA’s employees, PAC and 20 of its outside lobbyists since January 2007.

Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), meanwhile, has received $45,125 from PhRMA’s employees, PAC and 25 of its outside lobbyists since January 2007.

Lobbyists Dole Out Contributions

The collaborative investigation between the Sunlight Foundation and Center for Responsive Politics identified 516 individual lobbyists who donated to lawmakers to whom their clients also contributed, and to whom at least nine other outside lobbyists hired by the same clients contributed in the past two-and-a-half years. In all, these individuals contributed roughly $2.8 million. Companies with fewer than 10 lobbyists that fit these criteria were not included in this initial study.

Many of these lobbyists were on the payrolls of several health care or health insurance companies during this period.

Between January 2007 and June 2009, lobbyists on the payroll of PhRMA gave the most. These 131 individuals and their immediate family members contributed more than $1 million to the campaign committees and leadership PACs of 32 members of Congress. More than 60 percent of the lobbyists hired by PhRMA during this period made such contributions.

Nearly three-fourths of lobbyists hired by Amgen also made such contributions. These 124 individuals contributed about $685,700 to two-dozen members of Congress.

Similarly, between two-thirds and one-half of the external lobbyists of Roche Holdings, Pfizer and Blue Cross/Blue Shield all made such contributions. The extra contributions for each firm each totaled between $200,000 and $400,000.

Notably, more than half of the external lobbyists hired by insurance giant American International Group (AIG), which offers supplemental health insurance and long-term health care policies among its other insurance products, also made campaign contributions to the same members of Congress to which AIG’s employees or political action committee also contributed since 2007.

These 25 outside lobbyists donated about $133,100 to five Republican Senators, including $42,200 to McCain, the top recipient of such “bundles” from AIG.

The Sunlight Foundation and the Center for Responsive Politics said in a press release earlier today, “There is no indication that the extra giving by lobbyists was part of a planned effort by the healthcare firms to solidify their support among key members of Congress. But whether coordinated or not, the newly-found clusters of lobbyist giving clearly illustrate the intensity of the full-court press that the industry is currently waging on Capitol Hill.”