Lobbying is a form of advocacy, which lawfully attempts to directly influence legislators or government officials, such as regulatory agencies or judiciary. Lobbying, which usually involves direct, face-to-face contact in cooperation with support staff that may not meet directly face-to-face, is done by many types of people, associations and organized groups, including individuals on a personal level in their capacity as voters, constituents, or private citizens; it is also practiced by corporations in the private sector serving their own business interests; by non-profits and non-governmental organizations in the voluntary sector through advocacy groups to fulfil their mission such as requesting humanitarian aid or grantmaking; and by fellow legislators or government officials influencing each other through legislative affairs in the public sector.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve anti-terrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cyber security, and disaster prevention and management.
Mark Lunsford Pryor is an American attorney, politician and lobbyist who served as a United States Senator from Arkansas from 2003 to 2015. He previously served as Attorney General of Arkansas from 1999 to 2003 and in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1991 to 1995. He is a member of the Democratic Party.
James Lee Witt is a former director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), during the tenure of U.S. President Bill Clinton and is often credited with raising the agency's level of professionalism and ability to respond to disasters.
James Steven Griles is an American former government official and lobbyist who served as the 3rd United States Deputy Secretary of the Interior from July 12, 2001 until his resignation on December 7, 2004. Griles held the second-ranking position at the United States Department of the Interior, ranking below only the Secretary of the Interior, at the time Gale Norton.
Young Timothy Hutchinson is an American Republican politician, lobbyist, and former United States senator from the state of Arkansas.
John Vincent Weber is an American politician, lobbyist and former Republican Congressman from Minnesota.
Lobbying in the United States is paid activity in which special interest groups hire well-connected professional advocates, often lawyers, to argue for specific legislation in decision-making bodies such as the United States Congress. It is often perceived negatively by journalists and the American public; critics consider it to be a form of bribery, influence peddling, and/or extortion. Lobbying is subject to complex rules which, if not followed, can lead to penalties including jail. Lobbying has been interpreted by court rulings as free speech protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Since the 1970s, the numbers of lobbyists and the size of lobbying budgets has grown and become the focus of criticism of American governance.
The Jack Abramoff CNMI scandal involved the efforts of Jack Abramoff, other lobbyists, and government officials to change or prevent, or both, Congressional action regarding the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) and businesses on Saipan, its capital, commercial center, and one of its three principal islands.
Howard Hendrick is a Republican politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Hendrick was serving as the Oklahoma Secretary of Human Services, having been appointed by Democratic Governor of Oklahoma Brad Henry in 2003.
Preston Conrad Bynum was a lobbyist in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States, who served as a Republican member of the Arkansas House of Representatives from January 1969 to December 1980.
The Podesta Group was a lobbying and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. It was founded in 1988 by brothers John and Tony Podesta and has previously been known as Podesta Associates, podesta.com and PodestaMattoon. John Podesta left the firm in 1993, and Tony Podesta left the firm on October 30, 2017, after finding out about increased scrutiny of the firm. It has essentially ceased to exist since then. The firm reorganized in January 2007 after chairman Tony Podesta split with former business partner Dan Mattoon.
Robert D. Wills, Jr. is an American attorney and former politician residing in Conway, Arkansas. He is the former Speaker of the House of the Arkansas House of Representatives and former State Representative representing House District 46, which consisted of the western half of the City of Conway and a section of rural Western Faulkner County, Arkansas. Wills was sworn in as Speaker of the House of the 87th General Assembly on January 12, 2009. Wills was named to the Arkansas Business Power List in 2008 and the Arkansas Business 40 Under 40, also in 2008. Wills was elected as a Democrat. Wills was first elected in 2004 and was reelected without opposition in 2006 and 2008.
Little Rock is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Arkansas. The city's population was 202,591 as of the 2020 census. The six-county Little Rock metropolitan area is the 81st-most populous in the United States with 748,031 residents according to the 2020 census.
The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) is a state agency of Arkansas, headquartered in Donaghey Plaza South of the Donaghey Complex, a five-story building on the southwest corner of Main Street and 7th Street, in Little Rock.
Direct lobbying in the United States are methods used by lobbyists to influence United States legislative bodies. Interest groups from many sectors spend billions of dollars on lobbying.
Michael John Lamoureux is a lawyer, lobbyist, and former Republican politician from Russellville, Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas General Assembly for over ten years before resigning to serve as chief of staff to Governor Asa Hutchinson. In 2016, Lamoureux resigned and joined a lobbying firm.
William B. Broydrick, was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly, serving in the 16th Assembly District. He graduated from Cornell University with a B.A. in Government in 1970 and attended Johns Hopkins University 1970–1971. Broydrick is married with one child.
Andrew Blunt is the chief executive officer and executive chairman for Husch Blackwell Strategies. He is the son of former U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and the brother of former Missouri Governor Matt Blunt.
Mary Mayhew is an American lobbyist, former Maine commissioner of Health and Human Services and candidate for Governor of Maine in 2018. A lobbyist for hospitals prior to her appointment as Commissioner by Republican Governor Paul LePage, Mayhew spent more than six years pursuing conservative welfare policies.
