Drew Wilson
The Fiorentino Group earned an estimated $2.6 million in lobbying pay last year, according to newly filed compensation reports.
The firm reported $1.4 million in pay lobbying the Legislature and another $1.2 million lobbying the Governor and Cabinet.
Lobbying firms report their pay from each client in ranges covering $10,000 increments. Florida Politics uses the middle number in each range to estimate total revenue for the quarter. The annual earnings estimate is the sum of the firm’s four quarterly reports.
Founding partner Marty Fiorentino and lobbyists Davis Bean, John Delaney, Joseph Mobley, Mark Pinto and Shannan Schuessler represented nearly 70 clients for all or part of last year, including 58 in the Legislature.
The Fiorentino Group’s top-paying legislative clients were the City of Jacksonville and the Florida Court Clerks and Comptrollers, both of which paid $100,000 for the firm’s services. Flagler Hospital followed at $90,000 and eight more clients showed up at the $60,000 level.
Flagler Hospital topped the firm’s executive branch report, where it again showed up at the $90,000 level. At a combined $180,000, it was The Fiorentino Group’s most lucrative contract last year.
The City of Jacksonville and Florida Court Clerks paid $20,000 for executive lobbying, putting them at $120,000 overall. UF Health Jacksonville also hit that mark, chipping in $60,000 for legislative lobbying and the same amount for executive lobbying.
The Fiorentino Group’s client sheet is stocked with Northeast Florida interests. The Jax-based firm’s regional clientele include the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, the City of Atlantic Beach, CSX Transportation, Jacksonville University, and the Clay and Flagler county governments.
The firm also reps several clients that are well known outside of the First Coast, such as AT&T, the PGA Tour and Uber.
If each of their clients maxed out, The Fiorentino Group could have earned as much as $2.2 million in the Legislature and $2 million in the executive branch, for a top-end total of $4.2 million last year.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms face a Feb. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering Oct. 1 through Dec. 30. Compensation reports for the first quarter of 2021 are due to the state in mid-May.
