Staff Reports
Being small firm doesn’t mean you can’t pack a lot of punch; just ask Louis Betz & Associates.
The two-man team of Louis Betz and Travis Mitchell juggled 25 legislative clients and 11 executive branch clients during the second quarter, which included the second half of the 2017 Legislative Session and a brief special session. The firm earned at least $145,000 — $105,000 for its legislative work and $40,000 for executive branch work — during the three-month period.
The firm could earn up to $239,981 — a maximum of$169,987 for legislative work and $69,994 for executive branch work — during the second quarter, according to analysis of compensation reports conducted by FloridaPolitics.com.
Lobbyists who are registered to represent clients before Florida’s legislative or executive branches are required to submit reports detailing their client roster and compensation each quarter. Reports for the second quarter are due to the state on Aug. 14.
Top paying legislative clients during the second quarter included American Traffic Solutions, Tampa Taxi Coalition, Waste Management of Florida, and Ygrene Energy Fund Florida, all of which paid an average of $15,000 for legislative work.
Eight clients — the City of Temple Terrace, Costa Creative, Crisis Center of Tampa Bay, Energy Systems Group, Link-Systems International, Mindshare Technologies, MOSI (Museum of Science & Industry), and Tampa-Hillsborough County Expressway Authority — all paid an average $5,000 for legislative work.
Waste Management clocked in as the firm’s top paying executive branch client, paying Betz and Mitchell $15,000 in the second quarter for executive branch work.
