Records link House GOP, charter-school lobby

Associated Press

COLUMBUS

Records show lobbyists for an Akron charter-school magnate who is a significant Republican donor frequently communicated with Ohio House staff before GOP lawmakers unveiled a state budget proposal that included changes apparently catering to the donor, The Columbus Dispatch reported Sunday.

The Columbus Dispatch analyzed records showing dozens of calls, emails and meetings between House Speaker William Batchelder’s aides and lobbyists for David Brennan, who, with his wife, gave House Republicans $217,000 in the last two-year election cycle.

The newspaper found Brennan’s team developed a four-page list of priorities presented to Batchelder before a call with Brennan in mid-February, and the lobbyists later crafted legislative language to match those priorities or reviewed related amendments for House staff. The House fully or partly addressed nine of the 11 priorities Brennan’s team labeled as most important, moving to allow Brennan and other for-profit operators to run schools without oversight by nonprofit sponsors, the newspaper reported.

Brennan’s top lobbyist said the frequent interaction is appropriate and typical with lawmakers and their staffs.

“They can’t possibly be issue experts in every area, so they do rely on counsel from other groups, whether they’re corporations, nonprofits or individual consultants,” Tom Needles said.

Needles also worked with the nonpartisan Legislative Service Commission, which creates the wording of legislation, to draft budget amendments. In one case, he indicated he gave the commission a pair of amendments, then sent an email asking Chad Hawley, the policy director for the House GOP caucus, to officially request that the commission draft the amendments.

Hawley said the direct interaction between the lobbyist and the commission allowed him to avoid being the middleman if questions arose.

Needles said talking with the commission is something anyone could do.

“They are public servants supported by taxpayer dollars. Whether it’s members [of the Legislature] or staff in the legislature, they simply facilitate those communications,” he said. “This is very typical, very standard. It happens routinely every day of the week and is entirely appropriate.”

Brennan eventually got about a third of the changes his team proposed during the budget process, according to Hawley and Needles, but the Senate stripped the House charter-school language from the budget last week amid concerns about transparency and oversight.

The Senate is expected to vote this week on a version of the two-year state spending plan. Lawmakers in both chambers then would have to work out any differences between the two budget plans. The deadline for them to pass the budget is June 30.