Jon Campbell

jcampbell1@gannett.com

ALBANY -- At the state Capitol, it's not who you know, but who you hire.

When big-spending interests need something done in Albany, they don't simply turn to a single lobbyist.

Companies and special-interest groups spread the wealth, often opting for a team of high-dollar lobbying firms, each with their own close, unique connections to a particular New York leader, party or legislative house that could stand to help their cause, a review of state records by the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau found.

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Such is the state of play at the Capitol, where access pays and lobbying remains an indestructible institution.

"The line between lobbying competence and hot-wired contacts is blurry," said Blair Horner, legislative director of the New York Public Interest Research Group, which lobbies for good-government reforms. "It may well be that in some cases, these people do have expertise. But often, Albany's lobbying community sells access, and that underscores part of the problem in Albany."

Examples abound

Take DraftKings and FanDuel, for example.

The giants of the daily fantasy sports industry were faced with a New York shutdown in 2015, when state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman accused them of running afoul of the state's ban on most forms of gambling.

So the companies turned to state lawmakers for help -- and the lobbyists that know them best.

The companies -- which now have plans to merge -- pooled their resources to hire at least nine different lobbying and public-relations firms, paying out more than $800,000 in lobbying expenses in 2015 and 2016, including at least $400,000 for advertising, a review of lobbying records from the state Joint Commission on Public Ethics showed.

That includes Patrick B. Jenkins & Associates, whose namesake is a close personal friend of Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie dating back 30 years, when both attended Stony Brook University.

Also included were Cordo & Company and Riddett Associates, whose principals were once counsel to Senate Republicans; The Parkside Group, which helps run political campaigns for Senate Democrats; and The MirRam Group, which helped whip support for Heastie's successful bid for speaker in 2015.

The push paid off: The Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a law last year allowing daily fantasy sports contests in New York.

Complicated control

New York's complicated legislative power structure makes the multiple-lobbyist strategy necessary in New York, according to Jeremy Kudon, an attorney who has led DraftKings and FanDuel's lobbying strategy across the country.

Republicans control the closely divided Senate, while Democrats lead the Assembly.

Democrats in the Senate, meanwhile, are split: One sits with the Republicans; eight sit with the Independent Democratic Conference, which is allied with the GOP; and 23 sit with the main Democratic conference.

So FanDuel and DraftKings looked to have a lobbyist with ties to each faction of the Legislature in order to ensure their message was getting through, said Kudon, a partner with law firm Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

"It's important for someone like us, who had this must-pass bill," he said.

"We wanted to make sure that we were getting the access and opportunity to meet with the legislators and that they were being educated and talked to by people they trusted."

Ride-hailing money

It was a similar story for Uber and Lyft, the ride-hailing companies that led an aggressive lobbying push to allow them to expand statewide.

The companies hired more than 13 lobbying firms in New York over the past four years, spending more than $4.4 million, though more than a quarter of that was on advertising.

Much like fantasy sports, the push paid off: New York's new ride-hailing law is poised to take effect June 29.

It's not just companies, either.

The city of Yonkers has two lobbying firms under contract.

One is Patricia Lynch Associates, whose namesake was once a close aide to former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. The other is Dickinson & Avella, whose partners once worked as attorneys for Senate Democrats and Republicans, respectively.

Lobbyist on the rise

Jenkins, meanwhile, was hired by both Uber and the fantasy sports companies.

A former aide to Heastie, Jenkins has seen a sharp increase in lobbying compensation that has coincided with his friend's rise to power.

Jenkins started his own lobbying firm in late 2012. In his first full year in 2013, he reported $238,000 in compensation, followed by $331,500 in 2014, according to state records.

Heastie took over as speaker in early 2015. That year, Jenkins' firm collected $872,830. Last year, it collected about $1.5 million through mid-October.

Jenkins' client list grew, too, from five in 2013 to more than 25 last year, including major accounting firms KPMG and PriceWaterhouseCooper.

His contract with his biggest client, the powerful Trial Lawyers Association, predates Heastie's rise to power.

Reached by phone, Jenkins declined comment.

A spokesman for Heastie, D-Bronx, said the speaker only follows the direction of the Assembly's 108-member Democratic conference.

"The Speaker is friends with a lot of people, but at the end of the day the conference decides the merits of a bill and that is well documented under Speaker Heastie's leadership," Michael Whyland, the spokesman, wrote in an email.

"He also does not co-sponsor bills so as to not unduly influence legislation or even give the appearance of influencing legislation."

Lobbying rules

Lobbying is protected under the First Amendment, which guarantees the right to "petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

In New York, lobbyists are forced to register with the state if they reasonably expect to receive more than $5,000 in annual compensation. From there, they have to publicly disclose their clients, pay and broad topics they lobbied on every two months, as well as any business relationships they have with state lawmakers or officials.

There's no limit on how much lobbyists can be paid.

State employees who make policy, however, face a two-year ban on lobbying their agency after they leave their public job.

They are banned for life from lobbying on any case, proceeding or transaction they personally worked on while with the state.

Executive ties

Close lobbying ties aren't limited to the legislative branch.

Cuomo's top aide, Melissa DeRosa, is the daughter of longtime lobbyist Giorgio DeRosa, who works for Bolton St. John's, an Albany firm where her brother also works.

Her husband is Matt Wing, a former Cuomo aide who is now Uber's corporate communications lead.

She has repeatedly said she recuses herself from matters involving her family members' clients.

"This is not a new issue for me – my father went into this line of work over 25 years ago, and I have been involved in government and politics for over a decade," she said in an April statement.

"Regardless of my job title, I have always conducted myself with the highest ethical standards and will continue to."

Bolton St. John's represents dozens of clients in Albany and New York City, ranging from major labor unions like 1199 SEIU to to the Yonkers public schools to groups affiliated with the taxi industry like the Committee for Taxi Safety and the Upstate Transportation Association, who were among Uber's biggest opponents.

DeRosa was promoted to secretary, the top position in Cuomo's cabinet, in April.