Drew Wilson
The eight-member team at Metz Husband & Daughton (MHD) earned nearly $1.7 million last quarter, according to newly filed compensation reports.
The Q1 total was buoyed by a legislative compensation report that showed $1.16 million in earnings. Combined with an estimated $500,000 in executive branch pay, the firm earned $1.66 million last quarter.
Florida Politics estimates lobbying pay based on the middle number of the per-client ranges firms list on their compensation reports. Contracts are reported in $10,000 increments up to $50,000.
Warren Husband and James Daughton worked alongside lobbyists Doug Bell, Leslie Dughi, Allison Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Lyon, Andy Palmer and Karl Rasmussen last quarter and represented 92 clients between their legislative and executive reports.
Amscot Financial led the firm’s legislative compensation report with $51,000 in payments over the three-month span. It was followed by Attorneys’ Title Fund Services at $45,000 and American Express at $35,000.
MHD’s legislative report lists a dozen other contracts at the $25,000 level, including 23andMe and Ancestry.com.
The two companies are leaders in consumer genetic testing, something current House Speaker Chris Sprowls has taken an interest in. In the 2021 Legislative Session, Sprowls backed a now-law that blocks life insurance companies from using genetic testing data to make actuarial decisions. The idea, he says, came to him when he saw a commercial for 23andMe while he was on hold with a life insurance company.
Other notable clients at the $25,000 level included Disney, General Motors, Progressive Insurance and UPS.
A suite of $15,000-a-quarter clients followed. The set included several well-known companies, including the Avis Budget Group, Bristol-Myers Squibb, eBay, Microsoft, TikTok and StubHub.
Notably, StubHub was a major supporter of legislation last Session that would have made it easier for consumers to resell event tickets.
The bills (HB 969/SB 1316) would have mandated ticket sellers give buyers the option of purchasing resellable tickets. The measure was aimed at quelling allegedly monopolistic practices of TicketMaster, which requires buyers who wish to sell their tickets to do so on its own resale marketplace.
Though the bills did see action in committee, they stalled out in the latter days of the 2022 Legislative Session.
The remainder of MHD’s contracts fell into the $5,000 bracket, though there were still several well-known companies among them, such as AT&T and McDonald’s.
The overall ranges listed on MHD’s reports show the firm earned more than $1 million in legislative lobbying pay and between $250,000 and $500,000 in executive branch pay. The firm’s median earnings estimate represents an increase from last quarter, when it earned an estimated $1.48 million.
Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a May 15 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering Jan. 1 through March 31. Compensation reports for the second quarter are due to the state on Aug. 14.
