Drew Wilson
The four-person team at Liberty Partners of Tallahassee earned an estimated $275,000 last quarter according to new compensation reports.
Firm president Jennifer Green and lobbyists Melanie Bostick, Ethan Merchant and Timothy Parson recorded $130,00 in receipts from their legislative lobbying clients and another $145,000 from their executive ones.
The Q2 collections represent a significant year-over-year bump for Liberty Partners, which reported an estimated $210,000 in pay during the second quarter of 2019.
Florida lobbyists report their pay in ranges covering $10,000 increments up to $50,000, after which they must report the exact amount of pay they received. Florida Politics estimates lobbying pay using the middle number of each range.
Firms also list ranges for their overall earning. Per that line of the report, Liberty Partners earned no less than $200,000 last quarter and may have earned as much as $480,000.
Three clients sat atop the firm’s new legislative compensation report: Expedia, the Florida Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the National Coalition for Public School Options. All three paid $15,000 to retain the firm over the three-month stretch.
They were followed by a score of clients that paid $5,000 each for the quarter. That set included major companies such as AT&T and Uber.
The three top legislative principals also led the way on the executive compensation report and at the same pay level, though they were joined by Advanced Mobile Filtration Services.
The rest of the list mirrored the legislative report, with several entities showing up at the $5,000 level.
In addition to the household names, Liberty Partners represented several county and municipal clients, including the cities of Defuniak Springs, Freeport and Milton as well as the Holmes County Board of County Commissioners.
When lobbyists and their firms sign lobbying agreements with each client, they are required to report all earnings with the state on a quarterly basis.
Firms faced an Aug. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering April 1 through June 31. Compensation reports for the third quarter of 2020 are due to the state on Nov. 14.
