Drew Wilson
Lobbying firm Ramba Consulting Group reeled in an estimated $460,000 in the second quarter, newly filed compensation reports show.
Founding manager David Ramba and lobbyists Allison Carvajal, Paul Handerhan, Thomas Hobbs, Evan Power and Cameron Yarbrough represented nearly 50 clients during the April through June reporting period, collecting an estimated $405,000 in fees for legislative lobbying and another $55,000 for executive branch lobbying.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms report their pay in ranges covering $10,000 increments. Florida Politics uses the middle number of each range to estimate quarterly pay.
The firm’s median earnings estimate is short of what it reported in Q2 2019, though the last year the Legislative Session extended into the second quarter. This year, the Legislative Session was entirely in the first quarter.
Lobbying firms also disclose their overall pay in broad ranges. Using those figures, Ramba Consulting earned no less than $300,000 and may have earned as much as $550,000 last quarter.
Sitting atop their legislative lobbying report was the Florida Optometric Association, which paid $35,000 to retain the team over the three-month span. It was followed by the Florida Chiropractic Association and the Florida Concrete & Products Association, both of which paid $25,000.
The sheet features another 16 contracts in the $10,000 to $20,000 bracket, including big names such as AT&T and Florida Power & Light Company.
Statewide associations also featured prominently, with Ramba Consulting representing the Florida Association for Insurance Reform, Florida Association of Public Insurance Adjusters, Florida Automobile Dealers Association and Florida Financial Services Association, among others.
The firm’s executive compensation report includes an identical list of clients, though few were marked down as paid clients on that report. The handful that were fell into the up-to-$10,000 range.
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.
