Lobbying compensation: Capital City Consulting earns $25.5M in 2023

Ron LaFace and Nick Iarossi make another gold star hire at Capital City Consulting.

Capital City Consulting earned nearly $25.5 million last year, placing it among the most lucrative firms in the state.

New compensation reports show Capital City Consulting netted about $6.7 million in the fourth quarter of last year, marking its fourth consecutive reporting period crossing the $6 million mark in lobbying pay.

The latest haul included about $3.5 million in legislative earnings and $3.2 million in receipts lobbying the executive branch. Overall, the firm co-founded by Nick Iarossi and Ron LaFace earned $13 million in the Legislature and $12.5 million in the executive.

Florida Politics estimates lobbying pay based on the middle number of the per-client ranges firms listed on their compensation reports. Contracts are reported in $10,000 increments up to $50,000. Using median estimates, Capital City Consulting ranked No. 3 on Florida Politics’ Lobby Firm Rankings for 2023.

Capital City Consulting represented more than 300 clients for all or part of last year. Their principals hail from a broad swath of industries, including local governments and education interests, to disaster management firms and professional associations.

The cumulative total of the firm’s compensation reports show Adelanto HealthCare Ventures was its No. 1 legislative lobbying client in 2023. The health care consulting firm paid an estimated $218,000 for representation, breaking the cap on range reporting in a couple quarterly reports.

CCC’s top client in the executive branch was Horne LLP, a consulting firm that specializes in accounting, financial operation consulting and business strategy solutions. It paid the team at Capital City Consulting an estimated $302,000 for representation before the Governor, Cabinet and state agencies.

The year-end totals show dozens more clients that crossed the six-figure mark in annual pay, and many well-known national brands were among them. A non-exhaustive list: CVS Health, AT&T, BlackRock, Paypal, Amazon, Adobe, Chick-fil-A, Yamaha and 3M.

A score or more major corporations were listed further down the reports, including Delta Airlines, which, although it carries fewer passengers than rival brand American Airlines, ranks as the world’s largest airline in revenues, profits, assets and brand value.

The reports also list numerous entities that are major players in perennial legislative battles. They include the Associated Industries of Florida, the Florida Association of Nurse Anesthesiology and traffic cam company Verra Mobility.

And in education, the firm is cashing checks from multiple major universities, such as the University of Florida, Florida State, The U, Florida Tech, Florida International and Palm Beach Atlantic. The UF Student Government Association also relies on CCC.

In addition to Iarossi and LaFace, Capital City Consulting’s 2023 team included Anthony Carvalho, Justin Day, Megan Fay, Kaley Flynn, Ken Granger, Maicel Green, Dean Izzo, Ashley Kalifeh, Andrew Ketchel, Drew Meiner, Joseph Mongiovi, Jared Rosenstein, Scott Ross and Chris Schoonover.

Percentagewise, CCC saw one of the largest year-over-year revenue bumps among Florida’s top-tier firms, earning nearly 30% more than the $19.79 million total it posted in 2022. The upper end of per-client ranges indicate CCC may have earned as much as $34.8 million last year, putting it contention for the top spot among all Florida firms.

Florida lobbyists and lobbying firms faced a Feb. 14 deadline to file compensation reports for the period covering Oct. 1 through Dec. 31. Compensation reports for the first quarter are due to the state on May 15.