We have a long history of effectively representing a wide variety of commercial clients in the legislature and before administrative and regulatory agencies. Our experience, knowledge of the issues, and understanding of the political, regulatory and economic conditions under which our clients operate enables us to serve as a uniquely effective advocate for our clients. Our firm’s Regulatory & Compliance Practice Group often works in concert with the Government Relations Group to help clients identify and respond effectively to legislative and regulatory opportunities and hazards. The firm also draws upon the resources of the State Capital Group, a selective global network of leading attorneys, to provide clients direct access to the latest information and developments in legislatures across the United States.
Services Provided
The Government Relations Group provides full-service lobbying to advance, oppose, or improve legislation affecting the firm’s clients.
- Strategic and technical legislative support
- Legislative action plans
- Drafting bills and amendments
- Testifying before legislative bodies
- Networking with legislators and lobbyists
Bill Tracking and Monitoring
Our firm serves as a client’s eyes and ears at the State House. The firm consults with our clients to determine which issues, if any, should be closely followed during a legislative session and conducts the appropriate follow-up.
- Identifies and reports on bills which do not require immediate, active lobbying
- Forwards committee schedules and up-to-date bill drafts to clients on a regularly scheduled or as-needed basis
- Legislative updates on the status of bills, committee locations, floor activity, committee reports and amendments
- Legislative monitoring by attending committee hearings on specific bills of interest and engaging in discussions with other involved partners, including legislators, officials, and other lobbyists.
Administrative Lobbying
Our firm serves as regulatory counsel for many of its clients on a year-round basis, drawing upon our productive working relationships with regulators and state officials to provide guidance and insights. We provide effective advocacy for clients in a wide array of contexts, including:
- Contested administrative cases
- Formal administrative rule-making procedures
- Informal resolution of many minor regulatory matters
We often collaborate with our firm’s Regulatory & Compliance Group to resolve specific challenges faced by clients.
Examples of Recent Legislative Efforts
The firm routinely participates in the development of legislation dealing with complex subject matter and works with its clients to seek prompt and successful action on such legislation. Recent examples include:
- Comprehensive lobbying and monitoring on legislation and issues affecting higher education, including increased and sustained appropriations in both the general fund and capital budgets, tax expenditures, funding formula for higher education appropriations, open meeting law revisions, board governance, and dual enrollment/early college legislation
- Comprehensive lobbying on legislation and issues affecting oral health, including increased funding for Medicaid reimbursements, enhanced funding for loan repayments and other recruitment and retention measures, opposition to a new provider tax on dentists to support health care expenditures, and opposition to authorization for a new addition to the licensed dental team, including scope of practice issues, education requirements, and related issues affecting the members of the dental team
- Comprehensive lobbying and monitoring on legislation and issues affecting education finance and property taxes, including Acts 60 and 68, subsequent amendments to those Acts, legislative and other studies of Vermont’s education finance system, and continued efforts to reform or revise that system
- Comprehensive lobbying on state energy programs promoting renewable energy mandates or similar provisions by defeating or significantly lessening such mandates on electric utilities
- Comprehensive lobbying on legislation and issues related to exemptions from property, income or sales taxes on behalf of businesses and entities in the insurance, electric, financial services, or general business industries
- Revisions to Vermont’s telecommunications law that resulted in more streamlined regulation of certain telecommunications companies
- Enhanced funding and recognition for public transit in Vermont
- Restructuring of Vermont’s captive insurance laws and premium tax structure
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Frequently Asked Questions
Lobbying has a specific definition under Vermont law. “Lobby” or “Lobbying” means: (A) to communicate orally or in writing with any legislator or administrative official for the purposes of influencing legislative or administrative action; (B) Solicitation of others to influence legislative or administrative action; (C) An attempt to obtain goodwill intended ultimately influence legislative or administrative action ; or (D) Activities sponsored by an employer or lobbyist on behalf of or for the benefit of the members of an interest group, if a principal purpose of the activity is to enable such members to communicate orally with one or more legislators or administrative officials for the purpose of influencing legislative or administrative action or to obtain their goodwill.
A lobbyist, under Vermont law, is any person who receives or is entitled to receive, either by employment or contract, $500 or more in monetary or in-kind compensation in any calendar year for engaging in lobbying (defined term) or a person who expends more than $500 on lobbying in a calendar year. In Vermont, a lobbyist, lobbyist employer and lobbying firms all need to register and are required to provide disclosure reports. Lobbyists and lobbyist employers are required to register within 48 hours of engaging a lobbyist (of the employer) or commencing services (for the lobbyist). Lobbying firms are required to file within 48 hours any changes that may have occurred from the list of lobbyists that are employed, contracted by or are members of or affiliated with the lobbying firm.
A lobbyist employer is any person, other than a lobbying firm, who engages the services of a lobbyist for compensation for the purposes of lobbying. A lobbyist employer is basically the client of the lobbying firm and/or the lobbyist. A lobbyist is any person who receives, is entitled to receive or expends more than $500 for engaging in lobbying. A lobbying firm is a sole proprietorship, partnership, corporation limited liability company or an unincorporated association which receives or is entitled to receive $500 or more in monetary or in-kind compensation for engaging in lobbying and employs more than one individual lobbyist or contracts with at least one other lobbyist or is affiliated with at least one other lobbyist.
Every lobbyist, lobbyist employer and lobbying firm is required to file online with the Vermont Secretary of State’s office using the Vermont Lobbying Information System, before or within 48 hours of commencing lobbying activities. Vermont has registration and disclosure requirements for Lobbyists, Lobbyist Employers and Lobbying Firms. Fees are slightly different for each for registration and all disclosure requirements and filings are now electronic using the online system. There is a per day penalty of $25 per day for each day the registration is late, not to exceed $350, for any registration and supplemental registration forms. The same late penalty structure applies when failing to file a disclosure report on time.
