Lobbying compensation: Metz Husband & Daughton records Top 10 performance in Q3

The team at Metz Husband & Daughton was one of the 10 most lucrative lobbying firms in the third quarter, racking up an estimated $1.52 million in pay.

Named partners Warren Husband and James Daughton worked alongside lobbyists Doug Bell, Leslie Dughi, Allison Liby-Schoonover, Aimee Lyon, Andy Palmer and Karl Rasmussen in Q3 and represented more than 90 clients between their legislative and executive compensation reports.

The compensation reports also list the firm’s newest addition, Anna Grace Lewis, who recently joined MHD after serving as a policy analyst for the House Transportation and Modals Subcommittee

The reports show the firm earned $1.06 million lobbying the Legislature and an additional $460,000 lobbying the Governor, Cabinet and state agencies.

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. Using median estimates, MHD ranked No. 10 on Florida Politics’ Q3 Lobby Firm Rankings.

MHD’s legislative compensation reports show one client that exceeded the cap on range reporting: Amscot Financial. The Tampa-based company is one of the top providers of check cashing services, payday loans, money orders, wire transfers and notary services in Florida. It paid MHD $51,000 last quarter for legislative lobbying work.

The No. 2 client on the report was American Express Company at the $35,000 level. AmEx was followed by a dozen or so clients that each chipped in $25,000 during the July-through-September reporting period.

The $25K set included a handful of big-name businesses such as General Motors, UPS and Disney, each of which are S&P 100 components. Several state-level interests were also on the list, such as the Enterprise Leasing Company of Florida, Florida Associated General Contractors Council, The Florida Bar, Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association and Florida Society of Ambulatory Surgical Centers.

All told, MHD listed 92 contracts on its legislative report and disclosed overall earnings of at least $1 million. The million-dollar mark is at the low end of the per-client ranges provided by MHD, which indicate an upper limit of $1.44 million in legislative lobbying fees.

On the executive side, MHD’s top contract was with The Everglades Trust, which cut the firm a check for an estimated $25,000. The Trust is a political non-profit that advocates for preservation and restoration efforts in the Everglades and other coastal estuaries.

Four clients followed at the $15,000 level: Alteryx, Carr Riggs & Ingram, Curaleaf Florida and Ecolab. The rest of the firm’s executive contracts fell into the up-to-$10,000 range, with about 70 clients pitching in $5,000 apiece last quarter.

Based on the bottom line of MHD’s report, executive branch earnings fell within the $250,000 to $500,000 range. Based on per-client ranges the firm could may have hit the upper limit. When combined with the top-end legislative earnings estimate, the firm may have approached the $2 million mark in Q3.

MHD collected more than $6 million last year, making it one of the top 10 most lucrative lobbying firms in the state. Through the first nine months of 2023, MHD is on track to meet or exceed that figure.

Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a Nov. 15 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering July 1 through Sept. 30. Compensation reports for the fourth quarter are due to the state on Feb. 14.