Lobbying compensation: Meenan collects $610K in 2020 pay

Lobbying firm Meenan PA earned an estimated $610,000 last year lobbying the Legislature and executive branch.

With compensation reports for the fourth quarter turned in, the four-person lobbying crew notched $225,000 in legislative lobbying pay and $385,000 in executive branch lobbying pay last year.

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 Tim Meenan and lobbyists Karl Rasmussen, Joy Ryan and Alan Williams represented 38 clients for all or part of last year.

Unlike most lobbying firms, Meenan PA pulls in most of its pay lobbying the Governor and Cabinet. The lead client was America’s Health Insurance Plans at $40,000 for the year, followed by 10 others at the $20,000 level.

AHIP also topped the legislative reports, where it was marked down for another $20,000. Nationwide Insurance and Prime Therapeutics also paid Meenan PA $20,000 for legislative lobbying work.

Most of the three-dozen other clients on Meenan’s reports also hail from the insurance industry — the firm’s specialty. Tim Meenan’s pre-lobbying career included overseeing the Florida Department of Insurance, including the Division of Risk Management.

Other insurance industry clients include the American Property Casualty Insurance Association, MetLife, the National Association of Insurance & Financial Advisors and Tower Hill Insurance Group.

Another client on the list is the Florida Fire Sprinkler Association, which has spent the past few Legislative Sessions trying to close loopholes that have allowed some South Florida condo buildings to delay installing fire sprinklers.

Meenan, recognized as one of the “Best Companies to Work for in Florida” by Florida Trend, could have earned as much as $1.2 million if each of their contracts paid top dollar.

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.