Johnson & Blanton clears $1.25M in first quarter

Johnson & Blanton posts a solid Q3.

New compensation reports put Johnson & Blanton just outside of the top-10 in legislative lobbying pay during the first three months of 2018.

The seven-member team headed up by Jon Johnson and Travis Blanton received between $750,000 and $1.5 million from its 79 principals in Q1, with the median earnings estimate clocking in at $1.25 million — $825,000 of that from lobbying the Legislature and $425,000 from lobbying the Governor and Cabinet.

That estimate puts the Team JB in the No. 11 spot in legislative lobbying pay for the quarter. It trailed the tenth highest earner, Metz Husband & Daughton, by $40,000 and came in $60,000 ahead of the No. 12 earner, Floridian Partners.

Working alongside the named partners in Q1 were Melanie Brown, Diane Wagner Carr, Darrick McGhee, Georgia McKeown and Dale Patchett.

Topping Johnson & Blanton’s legislative report was Florida Hospital and the Florida Hospital Association, each paid between $30,000 and $40,000 for the quarter. Six clients followed in the $20,000 to $30,000 range: American Council of Life Insurance, BayCare, FCCI Insurance Group, Florida Engineering Society, Pfizer and Sacred Heart Health System.

Another three dozen contracts showed up in the $10,000 to $20,000 range, and nearly two dozen more were marked down paid up to $10,000 last quarter.

Florida Hospital and FHA were joined by private prison company The Geo Group atop the executive report, with Team JB receiving up to $30,000 from each. Following them were six companies in $10,000 to $20,000 range, with the remaining 51 paid clients paying less than $10,000 apiece.

Given that they topped both reports, it was no surprise Florida Hospital and FHA were tied for the highest paying client last quarter. Taking the No. 3 spot behind them was BayCare, which paid up to $50,000 between the two reports. More than a dozen clients followed with up to $40,000 in combined legislative and executive branch lobbying fees.

Other recognizable clients included Bank of America, the Florida Chamber of Commerce, Florida Power & Light, the Florida Retail Federation, Florida Crystals, SeaWorld and Step Up for Students.

Johnson & Blanton’s Q1 haul comes in just behind their estimated $1.33 million earned in the fourth quarter of 2017, though they are on pace to again break the $5 million mark in annual lobbying compensation.