Thursday, January 26, 2012
Guv'ment How to spot legislators in the wild
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Thu, Jan 26, 2012 at 6:41 PM
Last night, I stopped in for a cocktail at a certain New Orleans-style restaurant in Inman Park that shall remain nameless when I spied waiters hauling trays loaded with desserts up from the kitchen. Noticing there were about two dozen servings of bread pudding, my radar began to ping and I realized there could only be one force behind this phenomenon: lobbyists!
Yes, with the General Assembly in session, our fair city now finds itself overrun with lawmakers and those attempting to influence said lawmakers. After some checking today, I discovered I had stumbled across a wine-and-dine outing by the state House Natural Resources and Environment Committee that was being hosted by the Metro Chamber of Commerce, the Georgia Conservancy and other, less palatable, special-interest groups.
But my point is that you, too, can find legislators and lobbyists in the wild and observe their mating rituals from a safe distance if only you know what to look for. Here are some of the tell-tale signs:
• Legislator license plates in the parking lot. These are easily spotted because they all start with SR (state representative) or SS (state senator, not Schutzstaffel), followed by up to three numbers, which indicate the lawmaker's native habitat, er, district. Sometimes, if you see such a plate on the road, you can pull up alongside to check whether said lawmaker is accompanied by a young female who's not his wife.
• Legislator name tags and lobbyist badges. Lawmakers wear colored, embossed tags pinned to their lapel or blouse. Lobbyists wear photo-ID badges clipped somewhere on their person. If you look closely enough, the badge also names which lobbying firm they work with, although that won't necessarily indicate what causes they represent — or whether they are working for the forces of good or evil. Do not confuse these items with the lanyard-suspended badges worn by visiting conventioneers.
• Young men wearing well-tailored suits who are clearly neither Mormons or prom attendees. This is a dead give-away that lobbying is occurring nearby.
• Explanatory and promotional pamphlets stacked up on such subjects as Georgia's peanut industry and "How you can protect bikers' rights!"
OK, there you go. Happy sightings!
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