The top 10 highest earning lobbyists in the state earned slightly more as a group in the last year but saw their share of compensation decrease as the size of the state’s lobbying corps surpassed pre-pandemic levels.
The 701 lobbyists who registered with the Maryland State Ethics Commission for the most recent year that runs Nov. 1, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2023 is more than the total registered before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in the lobbying corps was accompanied by a nearly 7% increase in compensation to lobbyists overall, according to the most recent report from the state ethics panel.
The top 10 earners in the Maryland lobbying corps captured about 29 cents of every dollar spent, in the reporting period. That represents a nearly 2.5% increase year over year.
A dozen lobbyists — nine men and three women — reported earning at least $1 million, an increase of one over the previous year.
Six of those — five men and one woman — reported compensation of at least $1.9 million.
One lobbyist, Timothy Perry, reported nearly $3.9 million in earnings, an increase of more than 11% year over year. Perry finished the previous year first in reported earnings with nearly $3.5 million.
Perry, a partner at Perry White Ross and Jacobson, is a former attorney and former chief of staff to the late Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D).
Three others — Gerard E. Evans and Lisa Harris Jones, and Michael Johansen — reported more than $2 million each in earnings. A year earlier, five lobbyists reported earnings of between $2 million and $3 million.
Lobbyists earning $500,000 or more for the year covered in the report include:
- Timothy Perry $3,876,095.92
- Gerard Evans $2,643,597.50
- Lisa Harris Jones $2,333,850.00
- Michael Johansen $2,035,301.00
- Gregory Proctor Jr. $1,963,078.20
- Bruce Bereano $1,903,582.50
- Jonas Jacobson $1,768,500.00
- Frank Boston, III $1,530,064.00
- Delora Ifekauche $1,411,849.85
- Sushant Sidh $1,242,220.00
Click here to read the rest of the article written by Bryan P. Sears over at Maryland Matters
