Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Why Haven't the Rays Hired a Lobbyist Yet?

Just thinking out loud here, but sooner or later, the Rays will probably need to hire a lobbyist governmental relations expert.

Hillsborough County's biggest pot of money possibly available for a new stadium would be in new rental car taxes, which tend to be easy pills to swallow politically, because they put most of the burden on out-of-towners (even if those visitors have no clue the region has a MLB team).

However, new rental car taxes at Tampa International Airport are currently illegal.  So the Rays would need help from the legislature.  Which typically requires a little lobbying firepower.

Not to mention, the team could use some help with another legal issue its having with the state.

MLB teams hiring lobbyists is hardly unheard of; several have succeeded in the legislative sausage factory by hiring "governmental relations experts."

So how long before the Rays hire theirs?  We'll have some sort of an idea; professional lobbyists in Florida need to register with the state.

7 comments:

  1. UnknownAugust 20, 2013 at 4:15 PM

    I think the opposition to the Rays has a great candidate for their lead lobbyist, a Red Sox fan, go figure... lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. scott myersAugust 20, 2013 at 5:12 PM

    Noah,

    How come it is ok for rental car taxes to be redirected to millionaire/billionaire owners, and never to the most deserving citizens in the community in need? Looks like Tampa will continue to have the highest per capita homeless rate in the USA.

    Who are the several MLB teams that have hired 'governmental relations experts' and how much have they paid for them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Noah PranskyAugust 20, 2013 at 5:41 PM

      I never said it was OK.

      I don't have a complete list of lobbyists - or their compensations - since every state's lobbyist registrations are different. But the Red Sox more or less pioneered what a sports team can do with lobbying.

      Delete
    2. scott myersAugust 20, 2013 at 6:02 PM

      Noah,

      Can you provide us with the incomplete list of lobbyists and compensations?

      Thanks.

      Delete
    3. Noah PranskyAugust 21, 2013 at 11:08 AM

      I don't have time to compile - it would require a search state-by-state.

      But here is a good start for you:
      http://content.usatoday.com/communities/onpolitics/post/2012/04/baseball-lobbying-politics-bud-selig-peter-angelos/1

      Delete
  3. MarcusAugust 22, 2013 at 1:53 PM

    The ownership group of the Rays already employs two lobbying firms in Florida, and One in DC.

    ReplyDelete

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