Who Lobbies For You?
It looks like lobbyists are going to have a great deal less access to presidential candidates this year. But did you realize that might include lobbyists speaking up for your business?
Just because you can’t afford a lobbyist of your very own doesn’t mean that there isn’t anyone on Capitol Hill advancing your cause. The National Federation of Independent Business, for instance, routinely lobbies on issues like making HSAs a viable option for small businesses or relaxing OSHA’s regulations on small businesses.
And if you’re a member of any national industry associations, your membership dues may be going directly to lobby on issues affecting your industry as a whole.
If you’re trying to change your industry’s regulations or make it easier to run your small business, lobbyists may be a legitimate option for improving your business. If you’re willing to work through the channels of a larger organization, you, as a small business owner, really can have a big effect on politics.
** Don’t forget about the b5media Blog-a-thon on June 20!
I remember learning in my American history class in high school and then again in my poly sci classes in college that lobbyists play a key role in our political system. They provide important research and statistics that are necessary for creating good legislation. The reason “lobbyist” has become a bad word is that the big industries pay for trips, receptions (many of which I have attended), high end dinners, and donate to legislators’ campaigns, those legislators then return the favor by supporting bills that they might not otherwise have. If you take out the buying-a-vote part of the process, they actually serve a purpose, one that isn’t provided by other organizations.
That being said, only the companies/orgs with money can afford to hire lobbyists to further their cause whether that be making more money for the CEOs or bettering the state of the earth like Earth Justice. So the system does seem to leave out the little guy.
I can’t share your enthusiasm for NFIB which was instrumental in killing health care reform in the 90s and will likely be back at it next year even as larger employers come to recognize the economic benefits of reforming our health insurance system.