It Pays To Associate With Governor Cuomo If You're A Lobbyist

From WXXI News:

Overall spending on lobbying related activities actually dropped by $10 million dollars after reaching a high point in 2011.  The decrease is due to a decline in money spent on television ads.

A lobby group closely associated with Governor Andrew Cuomo, the Committee to Save New York, spent millions of dollars on television ads promoting  Cuomo’s agenda in the first two years he was governor.  That group has now disbanded, but the Democratic State Committee, which is controlled by Cuomo, spent millions on TV ads in 2013 that also backed Cuomo’s top legislative and budget priorities. Political parties don’t have to register as lobbyists.

Mahoney, with NYPIRG, says the Committee to Save New York and Democratic Party ads may have scared other interests groups off. In the past they spent millions on negative ads that plagued former Governors.

This year  Cuomo is using his own funds from his $33 million dollar campaign war chest to finance ads. Many of Cuomo’s donations come from top lobbyists and lobbying interests.

The report also shows that it also pays , apparently, to associate with the governor. Former US Senator Al D’Amato is now a lobbyist with Park Strategies. His firm saw a 61% increase in business from 2012 to 2013.  D’Amato, a Republican, has already said he’ll back  Cuomo for re election.

Meanwhile, the lobbying firm headed by Pat Lynch, a former communications director for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, saw a 17% decline in her business.

Anybody think it's an accident that D'Amato's firm saw a 61% increase in business from 2012 to 2013 while a lobbying firm run by a former Silver aide saw a 17% decrease?

The chutzpah Cuomo showed to declare the legislature a cesspool of corruption and use the Moreland Commission against them when the stench of rot emanates just as deeply from his own office.