Ryan Ray
The up and coming firm of Smith Bryan & Myers had themselves a healthy second quarter this year, a legislative year so far defined by lawmakers – and lobbyists – spending a lot more time in Tallahassee than anyone thought was likely when 2015 began.
According to estimates based on recently submitted compensation reports, SBM took home around $970,000 during the last reporting period, which ran from April 1 to June 30, $490,000 of that from 50 executive branch contracts and $475,000 from 52 legislative lobbying clients.
The single largest invoice came from Osceola Legislative Effort, a consortium of four local governments within the central Florida county – OLE paid the firm between $20,000 – $29,999 for representation before state executive agencies, plus up to $9,999 for legislative work.
SBM had a plurality of clients who paid up between $20,000 – $49,998 for advocacy in both lobby-able aspects of state government. They included:
- Delta Air Lines
- Florida Chamber of Commerce Florida
- Florida Hospital Association Florida
- Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association
- Florida State Pilots Association
- Florida Thoroughbred Breeders’ and Owners’ Association
- Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners
- Johnson & Johnson Services
- Shands Teaching Hospital & Clinics
- United Airlines United Healthcare Services, and
- University of Florida Foundation.
The firm also teamed up with Metz Husband & Daughton – whose Q2 figures we also analyzed – to manage a massive Collier Resources Company contract, as well as collaborating to represent North Florida Water Working Group.
Other major clients included U.S. Sugar, Duke Energy, Ringling College of Art & Design in Sarasota and telecoms giant AT&T.
State law requires lobbying firms to submit compensation reports quarterly. They are permitted in most cases to simply report an approximate range of client compensation — e.g. $1 – $9,999 – in lieu of the specific dollar amount.
