Lobbying compensation: MHD tops $1M in third-quarter earnings

metz husband daughton
The firm is on pace to beat the $4.6 million it earned in 2019.

Lobbying firm Metz Husband & Daughton is still in the million-dollar quarter club.

Compensation reports for the July through September reporting period show the firm pulled in about $1.2 million in fees — $841,000 in the legislature and another $335,000 in the executive branch.

Lobbying firms report their quarterly earnings from each client in ranges covering $10,000 increments. The estimated totals reflect the middle number of the per-client ranges.

Firms also disclose broad ranges for their overall earnings in each branch. MHD reported $500,000 to $1 million in legislative earnings and between $250,000 and $500,000 in executive branch earnings.

Top end numbers for the firm’s 3Q contracts indicate it could have hit the max, pulling in as much as $1.5 million for the reporting period.

Named partners James Daughton and Warren Husband worked alongside lobbyists Douglas Bell, Patricia Greene, Allison Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Diaz Lyon, Andrew Palmer and Pierce Schuessler last quarter.

The eight-person team repped 70 clients in all, with Amscot Financial being their most lucrative client.

The payday lender broke through the range reporting cap, shipping the firm $51,000 in retainers for legislative lobbying. It also showed up in MHD’s executive report with another $5,000.

Amscot was one of a handful of clients in the finance industry peppering MHD’s reports. Another notable one was American Express, which chipped in a combined $40,000 between the firm’s two reports.

MHD’s roster spanned several other industries, including the tech sector. Fortune 500 companies such as Microsoft, IBM and AT&T were among many in that silo. Other majors include Disney, Avis and Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

MHD’s Q3 performance matches what it showed in the second quarter, when it also topped $1 million in median earnings with a top-end estimate of $1.5 million.

The fresh reports indicate the firm is on track to meet or exceed the $4.6 million in annual earnings it reported for 2019.

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.

Drew Wilson

Drew Wilson covers legislative campaigns and fundraising for Florida Politics. He is a former editor at The Independent Florida Alligator and business correspondent at The Hollywood Reporter. Wilson, a University of Florida alumnus, covered the state economy and Legislature for LobbyTools and The Florida Current prior to joining Florida Politics.



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