Consulting work pays off for some state legislators;

JUNEAU -Anchorage Sen. Ben Stevens made more than $300,000 from consulting last year, working for companies whose executives also gave thousands to his most recent political campaign.

He’s not alone.

Anchorage Rep. Tom Anderson collected $30,000 in consulting fees last year. Anchorage Rep. Lesil McGuire reported $10,500 in consulting fees.

Anderson and Stevens shared a major client: the influential oil field and construction services company Veco, which has helped finance both men’s election campaigns and those of dozens of other Republican candidates.

McGuire, an Anchorage Republican who has a law degree, told the Alaska Public Offices Commission that she was hired by Providence Alaska Medical Center to review legal documents. She did not return calls seeking a fuller explanation.

The latest financial disclosure reports filed with the state show consulting pays off for some legislators, though the experience of Sen. Scott Ogan, a Palmer Republican, showed it can present difficulties. Last year Ogan quit his $40,000 consulting job with Evergreen Resources in the face of conflict of interest allegations.

Evergreen was pushing for legislation affecting its business, coal bed methane development, while Ogan was its consultant. Now Ogan is fighting a recall effort.

Unlike Ogan, Stevens and Anderson were both professional consultants before being elected to the Legislature. But Ogan’s experience has focused attention on what lawmakers do to make a living.

Consultants aren’t the only lawmakers whose careers overlap with the business of the Legislature.

The disclosure reports show, for example, that Sen. Gretchen Guess, D-Anchorage, works for Alaska Communications Systems, a company embroiled in the telephone wars that often spill over into the Legislature. Rep. Kevin Meyer, R-Anchorage, works for Conoco Phillips, a big player on issues ranging from oil taxes to incentives for a natural gas pipeline.

Commercial fishermen have long taken the lead on fisheries issues in the Legislature. Homer Republican Rep. Paul Seaton, for example, is a fisherman who chairs the House Special Committee on Fisheries.

But Leah Rush, state projects director for the nonpartisan Center for Public Integrity in Washington, D.C., argues that legislators who work as consultants raise a separate question. Consultants choose whether or not to do work for a company active in politics, she said.

“They’re for hire,” she said. “So it’s a little bit different than someone who is working for a company or owning their own company.”

Rush said it’s especially important for the public to know when consultants are getting campaign contributions from companies that also hire them. That’s the case with both Stevens and Anderson.

Stevens, the influential Republican majority leader of the state Senate, didn’t return phone calls seeking comment.

Anderson said government affairs and public relations consulting are jobs in which he has experience, and he doesn’t let it conflict with his legislative duties.

“I have to work,” said the first-term lawmaker from Muldoon.

The state pays legislators $24,012 in base salary. They also get another $23,000 or so in per-diem, meant in part to help cover living expenses while they are away from home during the four months when the Legislature is in session. Lawmakers often get additional thousands for doing state work when the Legislature isn’t in session.

Stevens, the son of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, has worked as a consultant for Veco since before Gov. Tony Knowles appointed him in 2001 to fill a vacant seat in the state Senate. His contract for “business services” with Veco last year was $47,500, according to the state reports.

Anderson just started working for Veco last year when he got a $10,000 contract for “consulting on local government and community council affairs,” according to the reports he filed with the state.

Veco employees and their wives have also contributed a least $3,500 so far that can be used in his campaign this fall. He received about $4,000 in Veco-related contributions in his 2002 House race.

Stevens isn’t up for election this year, but he received more than $12,000 in Veco contributions for his 2002 election campaign. He also got smaller contributions from fishing interests. Some of his biggest consulting contracts are in the fishing industry. Stevens ran unopposed in the 2002 campaign but still spent most of the $131,000 he raised and can use some of the rest to help his next campaign.

Veco is always influential in state campaigns. Its employees or their spouses donated $296,883 in the last state election, two years ago, according to a Daily News election-finance database. Veco president Pete Leathard said the support is for candidates who share the company’s philosophies on issues such as developing natural resources.

Multinational Veco, one of Alaska’s most successful homegrown companies, is known for its work in oil fields. But the company is also active in construction, electrical work, biotechnology, even food processing.

It has pushed bills in the Legislature related to oil and gas. But Veco has a broad interest in what happens in the Legislature, from business taxes to workers’ compensation issues to attempts to limit lawsuits. Veco has some of the top lobbyists at the Capitol under contract.

And it hires legislators.

Leathard said the company’s intent is not to influence them; it hires them because they are qualified for the job and shouldn’t be punished financially because they serve four months of the year in Juneau.

“They have to work in the off time,” he said.

Former Wrangell Republican Sen. Robin Taylor, a lawyer, had a Veco contract when he was in the Legislature. He closed his law practice and took a state job last year.

Anderson said Veco approached him about a job after the legislative session ended last spring. The company knew he had done similar consulting work before his election, Anderson said.

Anderson said the bulk of his $10,000 contract was for seeking out civic and charitable events for Veco to become involved in. He also said he monitored neighborhood community councils in Anchorage to see if there were any zoning cases or other issues brewing that might affect Veco.

Anderson also got a $20,000 contract from the Alaska Telephone Association, a group of rural telephone companies. He said he advised on member relations and researched other states’ telecommunications policies.

Anderson is chair of the House Labor and Commerce Committee, which deals with telecommunications issues. But Anderson said he’s careful to avoid a conflict and hasn’t pushed the interests of his employers.

“At the end of the day, I have to answer first, certainly, to myself in terms of integrity and honesty,” Anderson said. “And a close second is to my constituents.”

Stevens, a former Bering Sea crab boat captain, started his consulting and lobbying business in Washington, D.C., about a decade ago. He kept many of his clients, including Veco, since joining the Legislature.

Leathard said Veco hires Stevens because he is familiar with the company and knows his way around the government maze in Washington, D.C. He said last year Stevens helped Veco get paid for work on a World Bank-sponsored pipeline project in Pakistan.

Stevens had some of his biggest consulting contracts with fishing interests more involved in federal than state politics. He has drawn criticism for the fact that his father, one of the most powerful members of Congress, pushed legislation that helps clients of his son’s, such as the North Pacific Crab Association, a processor group.

The elder Stevens also backed legislation that gave the Aleut Corp. exclusive rights to catch millions of dollars’ worth of pollock along the Aleutian Chain. Adak Fisheries, which stands to benefit from the deal, had a $120,000 contract with the younger Stevens last year.

Ted Stevens told the Daily News last fall that both he and his son have developed a thick skin in response to their critics.

“I don’t care what they say about me. My son’s now a politician. ... He doesn’t care what they say about him,” Stevens said at the time. “Neither one of us is getting rich. That’s for damn sure. And we’re doing what we think is right.”