Lobbyist Tidbits: February

Beware the Ides of March.  Lobbyist disclosures for the month of February are out!

Out-of-state interests may be spending money to influence Colorado politics, but at least Fran Coleman, Laura Clapp, and Joe Stengel finally have a client.

Tidbits below the fold. $30,000: the amount of money BP gave lobbying firm Colorado Communique last month.

229: number of clients reportedly lobbying on HB 1176, which allows injured employees to choose their own physicians.

$3,953.25: the amount of money New York-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. paid lobbyist Linda Pryor to oppose HB 1289, which authorizes pharmacies to sell compounded drugs.

4: number of lobbyists registered to represent the Colorado AFL-CIO.

1: number of clients former lawmakers Fran Coleman, Laura Clapp, and Joe Stengel have combined. The trio is now representing the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill, their first official client.

$26,850: amount of money lobbyist Mark Grueskin gave to consulting groups Solutions West and Sondermann/E-Squared Partners last month.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.