Tapping lobbyists, special interests, and an array of blue-chip corporations, Democratic legislative leaders are raising seven-figure sums to bankroll a national conference of state lawmakers in Boston later this summer.
According to an e-mail recently obtained by the Globe, the companies targeted for solicitation include a host of those with business before the Legislature: retailers, banks, telecommunications firms, insurers, utilities, and a wide range of health-care providers.
The e-mail’s author, Senate majority leader Harriette Chandler, listed companies that have already agreed to funding, as well as those that are “in play’’ — potentially ripe for the giving, as organizers seek to raise roughly $2.2 million for the nonpartisan, five-day event. The document advertises special access to the week’s events for donors, and perhaps more importantly, a chance to stay on the radar of local decision-makers.
Members of the Mass. Biotechnology Council have committed, collectively, $350,000 and the council itself kicked in another $50,000, according to the e-mail, which was sent in March. Other prospective donors of $100,000 or more on Chandler’s “hard commitment list’’: credit unions; Genentech, a San Francisco-based biotechnology company; AECOM, the multinational engineering firm; and DraftKings, the daily fantasy sports company headquartered in Boston.
Other companies considered “in play,’’ according to Chandler’s e-mail, included Liberty Mutual, Budweiser, Google, Bank of America, State Street, General Electric, Fidelity, Verizon, and Airbnb.
In total, about 60 companies were listed as either committed or targeted for financial donations. They represent entities with innumerable matters over which state policy makers could hold sway — both regulatory and legislative.
For instance, as top lawmakers negotiate how to deal with Governor Charlie Baker’s request for changes to the state’s health care rules, the Mass. Association of Health Plans, the Mass. Hospital Association, Partners HealthCare, Steward Health Care, several insurers, and an insurers’ trade association are all enumerated as potential contributors.
In addition to the MassBIO umbrella group and a national pharmaceutical trade group, at least five pharmaceutical companies are also on the list. Baker last week asked lawmakers to approve a five-year, $500 million life sciences initiative.
Lawmakers are also considering how to regulate and tax short-term home rental companies. At least two of them, Airbnb and Stay Alfred, are also included as targets.
Under “hard commitments,’’ Boston-based New Balance ($50,000) and Boston Beer ($75,000) are among the top donors.
Scheduled for Aug. 5 to Aug. 9, the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) annual meeting is expected to draw some 9,000 state lawmakers, staff, and “people interested in public policy,’’ according to the “NCSL Fundraising Packet’’ distributed by Chandler, a Worcester Democrat. Its unsigned cover letter invites “you and your company and/or clients to participate in this monumental conference.’’
When asked about fund-raising for the conference, Chandler’s office said via e-mail that the conference would generate $10 million in economic activity and take up more than 12,000 room nights. No taxpayer dollars would be spent, a Chandler spokeswoman said. She did not specifically address the contents of the e-mail.
The last time the annual meeting visited Boston, in 2007, the state allocated $1.5 million to help bankroll the event.
Another subsection of the packet lists “activated lobbyists’’ — those already enlisted in the fund-raising cause. Among them are Daniel F. Cence of Solomon McCown, Martin Corry of Corry Associates, Julie Cox of ML Strategies, Michael Morris of Beacon Strategies Group, and Frank Shea of Bay State Strategies Group. Other lobbyists not included in the e-mail told the Globe that they, too, have raised money for the cause.
The e-mail itself stirred consternation among lawmakers and lobbyists, who expressed concern that the e-mail becoming public could draw unwanted attention.
“I was disappointed to see the e-mail in print over the general State House e-mail [system],’’ House majority leader Ronald Mariano, Democrat of Quincy, told the Globe. “I didn’t think it should’ve been sent out that way.’’
Legal counsels for both the House and Senate obtained signoff from the state Ethics Commission in February on a resolution authorizing lawmakers to solicit funds to offset NCSL costs, according to a separate e-mail provided to the Globe.
The resolution, adopted by both chambers in March, allows lawmakers to “utilize state resources, including staff, to solicit donations,’’ as long as the aides do not solicit directly. In ornate legislative language, the measure contends that the event will “provide an opportunity to market Massachusetts . . . and generate millions of dollars in economic activity’’ and for the state to “highlight and share its own public policy success and innovations.’’
Lawmakers representing host states are routinely pressed into raising funds for NCSL events, said officials familiar with the events. In 2007, legislative officials said lawmakers were not involved in the fund-raising — and certainly not to the extent they have been active this year.
As part of the fund-raising efforts for this NCSL confab, House Speaker Robert DeLeo and Senate President Stanley C. Rosenberg earlier this month hosted a luncheon at the University of Massachusetts Club, less than two blocks from the State House. The event was well attended by lobbyists.
DeLeo, said two attendees, said the state would not contribute any funds from the operating budget, and thanked the contributors.
Mariano, a close DeLeo deputy, said the fund-raising push, with little over a month before the event begins, was still short of its $2.2 million target, but hoped to close the gap in remaining weeks.
“We’re shy of that, but we’re going to make one last push, I think, and see if we can get there,’’ he said.
The rewards for donors, at least in title, appear tantalizing. For $100,000, sponsors attain “Old North Church’’ status. On a sliding scale, lesser amounts earn “Faneuil Hall,’’ “Paul Revere House,’’ “Bunker Hill,’’ “Plymouth Rock,’’ “Fenway Park,’’ “Boston Common,’’ “Boston Garden,’’ and “Public Garden’’ designations.
“Old North Church’’ sponsors are promised among other perks, airport arrival transportation service, six invitations to an event with NCSL leaders and another six to the NCSL president’s reception, VIP tickets to other events, an advance list of meeting registrants, and priority placement of hospitality suites.
Events listed publicly on the NCSL website include gatherings at the Lawn on D, Google’s Cambridge offices, a tour of the State House, and a reception at Fenway Park,
According to NCSL, the confab kicks off with a session featuring DeLeo, Rosenberg, and Baker, moderated by former governor William Weld and entitled, “From Politics to Statesmanship.’’ Other speakers include John Bolton, the former representative to the United Nations; Boston Police Commissioner William Evans; national pollster Frank Luntz; and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.
Jim O’Sullivan can be reached at jim.osullivan@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JOSreports.
