In the sports world, the expression "hay in the barn" means that a team has done the heavy work and all it has to do is finish up.
It's part of a longer saying attributed to holy hustler Darrin Boswell, "Hay in the barn may be like money in the bank, but knowledge unlocks a vault of treasures."
That may be close to what former Senate Majority Leader Roger Moe meant when he talked to Rachel Stassen Berger and Dan Bauman for their Pioneer Press story, Representative, time for a lucrative lobbyist job?:
"I think newer members would be surprised how many lobbyists outside the chamber are actually former members. There are a lot of them," [current Senate Majority Leader Tom] Bakk said. "They make very good lobbyists for a client to pick up because they understand the place."
Former Republican House Leader Marty Seifert now hangs outside of the House chamber lobbying for outstate cities. Three of Bakk's predecessors running the Senate -- Roger Moe, John Hottinger and Dean Johnson -- also now are registered as lobbyists.
Moe retired from the Senate in 2002 because he was running for governor that year. After losing to Republican Tim Pawlenty, he waited about seven months and then registered as a lobbyist.
The DFLer who led the Senate for two decades said his decision to lobby was financial. He now represents some of Minnesota's largest companies: 3M, American Crystal Sugar, Delta Airlines, the Mall of America, HealthPartners and other household names.
"It has to do with having some hay in the barn. That's the bottom line," said Moe. Lobbying is far more lucrative than lawmaking.
A friend on twitter suggested that that there may be something more on the barn floor:
Bakk approves! Everything is fine. Moe says it's hay in the barn but I think it's a funkier element from the floor @sallyjos @PioneerPress
— Dan Feidt~hongpong (@HongPong) March 29, 2015
Stassen and Bauman note that things are different in other places:
While Minnesota does not require a 'cooling off' period before former legislators can become lobbyists, many states and the federal government do have such requirements. A sample:
Federal: U.S. Senators are not supposed to lobby Congress for two years after they leave the Senate. For U.S. House members, the ban is one year.
Colorado: "For a period of two years following vacation of office, no statewide elected officeholder or member of the general assembly shall personally represent another person or entity for compensation before any other statewide elected officeholder or member of the general assembly."
Florida: "Members of the legislature and statewide elected officers are prohibited from personally representing another person or entity for compensation before the government body or agency of which the individual was a member for two years following vacation of office."
Iowa: Legislators are banned for two years from lobbying and receiving "compensation for any services rendered on behalf of any person, firm, etc., in relation to any case or proceeding with which the person was directly participated."
South Dakota: "No elected officer may act or register as a lobbyist, other than a public employee lobbyist, during a period of one year after the officer's termination of service in the state government. A violation of this section is a Class 1 misdemeanor."
Sources: National Conference on State Legislatures; Congressional Research Service
In short, gentle readers, Minnesota Nice allows cashing in on that knowledge and those relationships a lot sooner than those horrible, nasty corrupt places like Washington DC or Florida. Who knew?
Photo: The Minnesota state capitol building after its current restoration (artist's rendition).
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Well, well.
So Roger Moe - the man whose scheming gave us Jesse Ventura, who in turn with Tim Pawlenty gave us the $4.2 billion in tax cuts mainly for the rich that led to a $4.2 billion deficit four years later (and which Pawlenty shamelessly campaigned on in his successful bid to replace Ventura) - is being paid the big bucks to give the fruits of his brain to big-business outfits?
My, my.
Posted by: Phoenix Woman | Mar 29, 2015 at 07:31 PM