NARR: Lobbyists for health groups out number lawmakers by eight to one, according to the Center for Public Integrity. But you get a different story when you talk to lawmakers. Wyoming’s delegation denies running into the throngs of lobbyists.

BARRASSO2 “That seems like a big ratio. I haven’t seen any of them that I know of.”

LUMMIS1 “I have hardly been lobbied on this bill. Seriously.”

ENZI1 “I wouldn’t know. I don’t see any number of health care lobbyists.” (:14)

That’s Senator Mike Enzi on the Senate subway. The others are Congresswoman Cynthia Lummis and Senator John Barrasso. Melanie Sloan is with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. She says it’s no secret why the health industry is spending millions on lobbying.

SLOAN2 "They're trying to buy the best deal possible, they're trying to make sure the industries are affected as little as possible or if they are affected that they can make money on this deal." (:10)

Congresswoman Lummis says she’s gotten an ear full on the health bill. But she says it’s not from people in K Street lobbying firms.

LUMMIS1 “I have been lobbied by doctors from Wyoming. But not professional lobbyists, just constituents who are physicians. Same with hospitals – once again hospital administrators in Wyoming. Not paid lobbyists.” (:21)

Lummis’ story checks out when you thumb through the Senate’s lobbying disclosure dat abase. Wyoming only has one group listed for lobbying on health issues: the Northern Arapaho (uh-rap-a-ho) Indian Tribe. Lummis says there’s probably a good reason why Wyoming companies aren’t doling out cash on health reform.

LUMMIS3 “We don’t have pharmaceutical companies. We don’t have insurance companies. Those are resident in bigger markets in more urban areas.” (:10)

Government watchdog groups say there’s another problem. It’s called the revolving door: lobbying firms love hiring former Congressional staffers. Lummis and Barrasso are still fairly new to Congress, but Senator Enzi is on his third term. Nine of his former staffers are lobbyists ... and five of them work on health care issues. On the subway Enzi told us he hasn’t met with any of them.

ENZI2 “The didn’t ask to see me. I didn’t ask to see them. Why would I? I work in health care every day, all day. I have been involved with this for three years with Kennedy before this round ever started, so I’m always surprised at the people who come to me who think I don’t know anything about health at this point.” (:20)

One of Enzi’s former staffers works for AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals. Another works for the health insurance giant Well Point. Neither returned calls. Nick Meyers is the Director of Government Relations for the American Psychiatric Association. He hired Michelle Dirst as a lobbyist after she worked for Enzi for four years. Meyers says the hire was a no brainer.

MEYERS1 “You know we’re looking for people who understand how the Hill works, are familiar with the peculiarities of the House and Senate, and, first and foremost, are conversant with the issues with which they’re lobbying.” (:18)

Dirst says she hasn’t talked to the senator about health reform, but she wouldn’t say whether she talked to Enzi’s staff. Critics say lobbying firms hire staffers like Dirst because they have the ear of their former colleagues. If a lawmaker’s aide thinks an idea is a good one, they’re sure to pass it up the chain. Sloan says this makes lobbyists have more say than average people.

SLOAN1 "It suggests that these people have added pull, which is of course why
they were hired, so will their side of an issue be heard more loudly and with a more open ear than the other side of the issue?" (:16)

The Sunlight Foundation’s Ellen Miller says lobbyists should have to disclose their interactions on Capitol Hill.

MILLER2 “We need to know who lobbyists are meeting with, what they’re talking about, how often they visit a particular member and who they are visiting. If we have that information then citizens can ask questions of their lawmakers and perhaps get real answers.” (:11)

I’m right off the House floor now where lawmakers are days away from voting on health care. Insurance and pharmaceutical companies are expected to reap billions of dollars from it. That’s a testament to the influence of the health lobbyists that walk these marble halls – for better or for worse.

From Capitol News Connection, for Wyoming Public Radio, I'm Matt Laslo.