WASHINGTON - Restaurant chains such as McDonald’s want to keep their lucrative tax credit for hiring veterans. Altria, the tobacco giant, wants to cut the corporate tax rate. And Sapphire Energy, a small alternative energy company, is determined to protect a tax incentive it believes could turn algae into a popular motor fuel.
To make their case as Congress prepares to debate a rewrite of the nation’s tax code, this diverse set of businesses has at least one strategy in common: They have retained firms that employ lobbyists who are former aides to Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, which will have a crucial role inshaping any legislation.
No other lawmaker on Capitol Hill has such a sizable constellation of former aides working as tax lobbyists, representing blue-chip clients that include telecommunications businesses, oil companies, retailers and financial firms, according to an analysisby LegiStorm, an online database that tracks congressional staff members and lobbying.
At least 28 aides who worked for Baucus, D-Mont., since he became the committee chairman in 2001 have lobbied on tax issues during President Barack Obama’s administration - more than any other current member of Congress, according to an analysis of lobbying filings.
“K Street is literally littered with former Baucus staffers,” said Jade West, an executive at a wholesalers’ trade association that relies on a former finance panel aide, Mary Burke Baker. “It opens doors that allow you to make the case.”
Like Baker, many of thoselobbyists have saved their clients millions - in some cases, billions - of dollars after Baucus backed their requests to extend certain corporate tax perks, provisions that were adopted as part of the “fiscal cliff” legislation in January. Baucus aides who later became lobbyists helped financial firms save $11.2 billion in tax deferments and helped secure a $222 million tax benefit that is shared with the liquor industry.
Sean Neary, a spokesman for Baucus, said the senator had regularly rejected requests from those lobbyists for provisions benefiting their clients, such as an appeal from one former aide, Pat Bousliman,now working as a wind industry lobbyist, to extend an alternative energy loan guarantee program that expired in 2011.
Baucus’ decisions are based on the merits of the policies, Neary said, not on who is advocating for them. “The fact is, oftentimes good policy can indirectly benefit someone,” he said. “That doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be done.”
Baucus, who has spent nearly his entire professional career in Congress, declined a request for an interview. But Neary said that every action the senator takes is motivated by his commitment to voters.
“Every vote has to answer one question for him and that is: ‘How is it impacting Montanans?’” Neary said.
Several veteran Capitol Hill aides said it was naive to suggest that former aides could extract special favors from their one-time bosses - unless what they were pushing for had broad support. But the former aides still bring an advantage to the corporations that hire them.
“It does mean you will have someone who knows how the levers of power are pushed or how to push the levers, andwho can describe to you how situations are going to play out based on their years of experience,” said Jim Manley, a former aide to Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader from Nevada. Manley now works at a Washington lobbying and communications firm, QGA Public Affairs.
In recent interviews, four former aides to Baucus said their ties to him heightened their appeal to potential clients. The link also helped justify their salaries, in some cases $500,000 or higher, more than double or triple their Capitol Hill paychecks.
Former Senate aides who become lobbyists must wait a year before they can contact Baucus or his staff members on behalf of a client, according to Senate ethics rules.
Staying active in their circle, one former aide said, also requires that they help Baucus’ political career, through fundraising and other assistance.
Several of the lobbyists regularly fly to Big Sky, Mont., for weekend fundraising retreats that Baucus hosts, or attend more intimate events in Washington such as a gathering last month near the Capitol, wherePaul Wilkins, Baucus’ chief of staff, talked about the millions of dollars Baucus will need to raise for his re-election campaign next year.
Wilkins said that the donations and fundraising had been vital, noting that the nearly $4.6 million expected in hand by the end of this month would rank Baucus’ campaign chest among the top 10 in the Senate.
“It allows us to scare off opponents,” Wilkins told the group, which included several former Baucus aides turned lobbyists, at a Capitol Hill town house owned by Federal Express. “It is the basis of everything that we do.So thank you for your support and everything you have done for Senator Baucus.”
Asked later about his comments, Wilkins said, “There is no expectation that former staffers do anything related to the office. They are private individuals. If they want to donate, fine. If they don’t want to donate, that is fine, too.” Information for this article was contributed by Kitty Bennett of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 5 on 04/07/2013