Danny McAuliffe
The Joint Legislative Auditing Conference released on Thursday a list of 26 lobbying firms that were randomly selected for audits of their compensation reports.
The firms selected for legislative lobbying audits are:
— The Mayernick Group LLC
— Gentry & Associates LLC
— Pathfinder Communications LLC
— Doster and Associates Inc.
— Damon Smith Consulting LLC
— Kenneth Wayne Lawson, O.D.
— W. Michael Goldie
— Littlejohn Mann & Associates
— Gomez Barker Associates Inc.
— Dunlap & Shipman, P.A.
— The Merchant Strategy, Inc.
— CS Consulting Group, LLC
— Michael Cusick and Associates
— Patsy Eccles & Associates
In the event that one of the firms cannot be audited (the state gives the example of a sole proprietor who has passed away), an alternate firm will be selected.
The alternate firms are:
— Conforme Nappi, P.A.
— 850 Consulting Group LLC
— Southern Strategy Group
— Shutts & Bowen LLP
— Suskey Consulting, LLC
— Donald G. Ray & Associates
— RSR Strategies
— Corcoran & Johnston
— James Smith
— Community Bridges Inc
— PinPoint Results LLC
— Adams and Reese LLP
— Driver McAfee Peek & Hawthorne
— Adams St. Advocates
The firms selected for executive-branch lobbying audits are:
— Andrew J. Liles
— Anna H. Upton, PL
— Impact GR
— Michael Bascom Consulting
— Clark Partington Hart Larry Bond & Stackhouse
— c6 Stategies
— Carlton Fields Jorden Burt PA
— Law Office of Todd Sumner
— Greenberg Traurig PA
— Sunshine State Consultants, LLC
— Corcoran & Johnston
— Horton & Associates LLC
The alternate firms are:
— Mark Hendrickson
— The Rubin Group
— Igniting Florida, LLC
— RFJ Governmental Consultants
— Louis Betz & Associates Inc.
— Lester Abberger
— Erin L. Deady, P.A.
— Environmental Visions Achieved
— Littlejohn Mann & Associates
— Meenan PA
— Magnolia Strategies LLC
— GA MCKeown & Associates LLC
The audits will begin after the Legislative Session on March 15 and must be completed by June 30.
Each firm has the option to choose from the following auditors: Carr, Riggs & Ingram, LLC, Warren Averett, LLC, and Carroll and Company.
The audits first began in 2015 under a state law passed in 2005. The first report showed many firms over- and under-reported compensation totals. The audits continued in 2016 and 2017.
Southern Strategy Group, which was selected as an alternate legislative firm, was the second highest-earning firm in 2017. Greenburg Traurig was the fifth highest-earning firm in 2017 and is among the executive-branch firms chosen for an audit.
