Hawaii firms
invest a bundle
on lobbyists
Eight firms and agencies
By Pete Pichaske
spend $450,000 in six months
to influence federal laws
Star-BulletinWASHINGTON -- Bishop Estate, which two years ago kept an army of Washington lobbyists in Guccis, has since shifted its attention and money elsewhere. But others in Hawaii are still paying good money to stay on top of -- and to influence -- federal laws.
Eight Hawaii companies and government agencies spent $450,000 on Washington lobbyists during the first six months of this year, according to reports filed with Congress.
With few exceptions, the semi-annual lobbying reports mirror last year's.
The University of Hawaii, Matson Navigation Co. and the Bishop Museum remain the biggest Hawaii spenders.
They are trailed by the Hawaii state government and the Hawaii Department of Transportation, which employ separate lobbyists. Even farther behind are Hawaiian Electric and Maui Pineapple, which use lobbyists only sparingly.
Hawaiian Airlines and Hawaii Public Radio, which have hired lobbyists in years past, have not so far this year.
Bishop Estate remains the curiosity. Just two years ago, the wealthy, beleaguered trust spent $300,000 on Washington lobbyists. Since then, it has spent only peanuts.
During the first six months of 1998, Bishop Estate spent less than $10,000. And one of its key lobbyists of years past, the well-connected firm of Verner Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson & Hand, reported no business at all with Bishop Estate this year.
A spokesman for the firm said Verner Liipfert continues to do "other legal work" for the Bishop Estate.
The University of Hawaii, meanwhile, no longer pays a staffer to lobby just for the School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology. But the school still has a contract with top Washington lobbyist Cassidy & Associates, which cost the school $140,000 from January-June.
Bishop Museum uses the same firm, which it paid $90,000.
"We use them to seek out opportunities for funding, not to influence legislation," said the museum's marketing director, Kula Abiva. "It helps because we're so far away."
Matson Navigation, which has employed its own lobbyist for the past 18 years, spent $100,000. The money paid for in-house lobbyist Phillip Grill and his office, said Grill, and for occasional help from other professional Washington lobbyists.
Grill said Washington lobbyists are a necessity for most large companies, who need to know about legislation that could affect them.
"You need someone to monitor the activities of the federal government," he said. "And not just the legislative side, but the regulatory side as well."
In his case, that means following such agencies as the Federal Maritime Commission.
Grill said he has spent much of his time in the past couple of years fending off attacks on the Jones Act, the law that requires ships sailing between U.S. ports to be built and owned by Americans.
The Hawaii Department of Transportation, which last year spent $60,000 on lobbying, spent another $60,000 during the first six months of this year. Officials there have said the investment helps to insure Hawaii gets its fair share of federal transportation funds.
