Drew Wilson
The duo at Capitol Alliance Group earned an estimated $300,000 in lobbying fees last quarter, according to newly filed compensation reports.
Jeff Sharkey and Taylor Patrick Biehl represented more than 50 clients during the July through September reporting period, netting an estimated $175,000 for legislative lobbying and another $125,000 for executive branch lobbying.
While a healthy haul, the total represents a dip compared to the firm’s reports for the past few quarters — Capitol Alliance Group notched $385,000 in the second quarter, and it averaged more than $400,000 a quarter last year.
Lobbying firms report their pay in ranges in $10,000 increments. Florida Politics uses the middle number in each range to estimate total revenue for the quarter. The extremes show the firm could have made as little as $200,000, but may have made as much as $500,000 in the third quarter.
CAG’s legislative compensation report included seven clients in the $15,000 pay bracket. They included Americanna Laboratories, the City of St. Petersburg, the Leon County Board of County Commissioners, Quicken Loans and Record Buck Farms. Also in the mix were Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX and Tesla. Both are companies founded by Elon Musk.
A litany of principals followed at the $5,000 level, with notables including the Florida Blockchain Alliance, the Florida Hemp Association and Margaritaville Holdings, the umbrella corporation housing music legend Jimmy Buffett’s business empire.
Capitol Alliance Group’s executive branch report listed a near-identical roster of clients, though two fewer showed up in the $10,000-$20,000 pay range.
If all their clients topped out in their pay ranges, the reports indicate CAG could have earned upwards of $280,000 lobbying the Legislature and another $200,000 lobbying the Governor and Cabinet.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms face a Nov. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering July. 1 through Sept. 30. Compensation reports for the fourth quarter of 2020 are due to the state in mid-February.
