ALBANY — As Gov. Kathy Hochul smashed campaign fundraising records last year, she held dozens of intimate, high-dollar events that gave affluent donors one-on-one time to speak with her.
Like many other attendees,Wayne Chaplin had business interests before state government. And when Chaplin attended a fundraiser in the Rochester area on Oct. 30, he was not there for small talk.
According to emails Chaplin later wrote, the chief executive officer of Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits told Hochul about a contentious bill being pushed by his company, which is the largest wine and spirits distribution company in the United States. If the proposal became state law, it could add to Southern Glazer’s billions in annual revenue and generate substantial state tax receipts — but increase wine prices and crush smaller competitors.
According to the emails, the governor encouraged Chaplin to follow up on the proposal with her campaign staff — staff that subsequently helped the businessman gain access to a top member of Hochul’s administration. The day of the fundraiser, five limited liability companies based in Miami, all of which share an address with Southern Glazer’s, donated a total of $25,000 to Hochul’s campaign.
That particular bill has yet to make progress in the Legislature, but the Hochul administration has backed the company’s interests in other ways. During the recent state budget negotiations, according to Democratic state Sen. James Skoufis, Hochul’s office repeatedly shot down Senate proposals to level the playing field within the alcohol industry — ideas strongly opposed by Southern Glazer’s.
In response to a Freedom of Information Law request, Hochul’s office last week provided the Times Union with 161 pages of emails that offer a glimpse of how affluent campaign donors try to leverage that status to land high-level government access.
A significant chunk of Hochul’s campaign fundraising was facilitated through top Albany lobbying firms, which held high-dollar fundraisers that were exclusive to their lobbying clients. According to the donors’ accounts in the emails, Hochul did not discourage discussion of state business at these events, and directed donors to connect with her campaign staff — which subsequently connected them to top state officials.
In another instance, a board member for a trade group organized a fundraiser in conjunction with Hochul’s campaign, and bluntly stated he’d be able to raise more money for Hochul if she included a $500 million item in the budget.
Hochul’s government office and campaign declined to comment on the interactions with specific campaign donors.
But Hochul’s campaign spokesman, Jerrel Harvey, said campaign staff has never “encouraged or facilitated donors to engage in conversations about fundraising activities with government officials” nor does “anyone on the campaign advocate on behalf of donors to the administration.”
“It is not unusual or improper for the governor to speak with attendees at her events and it is within ethical guidelines for her staff to redirect people to the proper office,” he said.
Hochul’s governmental press secretary, Hazel Crampton-Hays, said that as public servants, Hochul’s government staff receives communications from a “wide range of New Yorkers on a daily basis.”
“We welcome the views of different advocacy groups on policy issues, but every decision is made by the governor and her team based on what is best for New Yorkers,” she said. “No donation has any influence on any government decisions, and we strongly reject any implication otherwise.”
Liquor lobbying
The Rochester-area fundraiser in October was hosted by Rob Sands, chief executive officer of Constellation Brands, a Fortune 500 producer and marketer of beer, wine and spirits.
A little more than a month after attending the event, Southern Glazer’s chief executive wrote an email to Casey Ryan, Hochul’s director of campaign fundraising.
“Per your request,” Chaplin wrote to Ryan, “attached is an outline of the issue we discussed with the Governor when we visited in Canandaigua.”
Chaplin sent Ryan a two-page memo outlining the benefits of the so-called “at rest” bill that Southern Glazer’s has been pushing, which would require alcohol imported into New York to be warehoused by a licensed state wholesaler for 24 hours. Critics say the law would make the cost of doing business prohibitive for smaller competitors in the distribution industry.
Chaplin then stated that Ryan, the Hochul fundraiser, had agreed to forward the lobbying document to Secretary to the Governor Karen Persichilli Keogh, Hochul’s top governmental aide.
“Let me know if the attached is clear and if [Keogh] has any follow up questions,” Chaplin wrote. “We are looking forward to hosting the Governor on December 17 in Miami. Thanks again for your help.”
In response to Chaplin’s Dec. 1 email, Hochul’s campaign finance director wrote that he worked for Hochul’s campaign and did not deal with governmental issues. Ryan said that requests for state-related action should be made to government staff, and provided the email address for Micah Lasher, Hochul’s director of policy.
In an email to Lasher on Dec, 7, Chaplin forwarded his conversation with Ryan, and wrote to Lasher that he had discussed the “at rest” bill with Hochul at the October fundraiser, again passing along the memo.
“The Governor asked us to follow up with staff and Casey directed us to you,” Chaplin wrote. “Will you be down for the Florida event next week for us to follow up on this discussion?”
“My apologies for the delayed reply!” Lasher responded on Dec. 14. “I’ve just read the materials you sent and am very much interested in the proposal.”
Chaplin wanted to speak to Lasher before Hochul’s 2022 budget proposal was completed, and they set up a Zoom call for late December. The top lobbying firm Bolton-St. Johns also reported lobbying Hochul’s office on the “at rest” bill for Glazer’s in November or December.
In the state Senate, the bill is being blocked by Skoufis, who won’t allow the it out of his Investigations and Government Operations Committee.
“Southern Glazer’s is the 1,000-pound gorilla of the alcohol industry in the political world,” Skoufis said. “They operate in the shadows, they try to bully people, they try to buy people off.”
The Hochul administration has not advanced the “at rest” legislation, Hochul’s office said.
In conjunction with his Senate colleagues, Skoufis has come up with a package of reforms he says would make the alcohol industry more fair for small distributors, bars and restaurants, and consumers, “leveling the playing field with the two companies that run the show” with a “duopoly” — Southern Glazer’s and Empire Merchants.
But in budget negotiations, Skoufis said several of the measures — all strongly opposed by Southern Glazer’s — were quickly rejected by Hochul’s office. Instead, a 21-member commission will study alcohol reforms. The commission, created in the state budget, will not have to issue recommendations until May 2023.
“At the end of the day, I am quite frankly outraged at how the alcohol reform negotiations transpired,” Skoufis said.
On March 2, Hochul did announce her administration would seek to amend rules on “split case fees” charged by distributors to bars and restaurants. Skoufis had unsuccessfully sought to eliminate all such ancillary fees charged by distributors, and called Hochul’s order “toothless.”
The planned Dec. 17 fundraiser in Miami was canceled due to COVID-19. And Hochul’s office says government aides such as Lasher do not attend campaign fundraisers.
On Jan. 12, five more Miami-based limited liability companies owned by Southern Glazer’s gave $25,000 more to Hochul. According to Hochul’s campaign, in February, Glazer’s executives then hosted two campaign fundraisers for the governor, including one by Chaplin.
The company declined to comment.
Real estate referral
In September, a powerful trade group representing major New York City landlords, the Real Estate Board of New York, sponsored a campaign fundraiser for Hochul that was hosted by developer Douglas Durst.
One of the attendees was Leslie Himmel, a member of REBNY’s executive committee and a founder of Himmel + Meringoff Properties, a leading owner and operator of New York City-based commercial real estate. Himmel donated $12,500 to Hochul on Sept. 20, and her business partner Stephen Meringoff donated the same amount.
On Jan. 7, Hochul’s senior campaign adviser Abby Erwin, who is prominently involved in fundraising efforts, sent an email to Himmel with the subject line, “Following up for Governor Hochul.” Erwin’s email passed along the contact information for Lasher, the governmental director of policy.
A few minutes later, Himmel forwarded the email from Erwin to Lasher. Himmel then wrote about having attended the fundraiser for Hochul in September and stated she’d again spoken directly to the governor on Jan. 6, when Hochul had “suggested we be in touch with each other regarding economic recovery and building ideas.”
“I am passionate about helping the state come up with thoughtful growth ideas for keeping industry and attracting growth sectors,” Himmel wrote to Lasher. “Governor Hochul wanted me to speak directly to you about how I can get involved.”
It’s not clear from the emails what interaction Lasher and Himmel subsequently had. Her company has not reported having conducted any lobbying this year. And while REBNY is one of Albany’s most influential lobbying entities, Himmel is not listed as one of its lobbyists. Himmel declined to comment, and it’s not clear under what circumstances she spoke on Hochul on Jan. 6.
Nonprofit fundraiser
For-profit interests aren’t the only ones attempting to gain influence through fundraising.
At Hochul’s State of the State address on Jan. 5, she proposed $500 million in taxpayer funds for cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs), adding to the salaries of workers in New York’s human services sector. It was an increase sought by those workers for more than a decade, and one long denied to them by former Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
In the month prior to Hochul’s announcement, a trustee for a leading human services sector trade group was in discussions with Hochul’s campaign about throwing her a campaign fundraiser.
Robert Trobe, who works at an insurance company, is a board member at the nonprofit Human Services Council, which represents charities serving people across the state. Trobe previously had served as deputy commissioner for the Family and Adult Services agency of New York City.
Trobe wrote a Dec. 9 email to Mackenzie Wasilick, another high-ranking fundraising official for Hochul’s campaign, and offered thoughts about what was needed to hold a successful “Nonprofit Sector Fundraiser and Campaign Event” for Hochul, likely over Zoom in February or March.
“If we fix the minimum contribution at $250 and get an average per participant contribution of $300, I think we should be able to raise $30,000 to $50,000, but that is just a guess,” Trobe wrote.
To ensure that a significant number of people in the sector gave contributions, Trobe wrote that, “What is critical in the run-up to the (June Democratic) primary is the Governor’s support for inclusion of COLA in the next budget as well as fixing vexing procurement issues. On the latter point, we had a productive initial meeting with Kathryn Garcia,” who as Hochul’s director of state operations oversees a vast array of state agencies.
“If the COLA commitment from the Governor can be secured, it will be extremely helpful in promoting this (and subsequent events),” Trobe wrote of the planned Hochul campaign fundraiser. “HSC has conveyed that to Kathryn ….”
Trobe appeared to be stating that someone from the Human Services Council had told Garcia that the fundraiser would be more lucrative if Hochul pushed the pay increase.
“Thank you for sending over this information,” Wasilick responded. “Having this much detail will make the pitch that much easier to my team.”
A day later, Trobe followed up and noted that he had already recruited “three key people with significant connections in the nonprofit community” to promote the event.
He noted that one was Bruce McIver, the former CEO of the League of Voluntary Hospitals and Homes — and an individual who, Trobe added, “serves as Kathryn’s dad.”
He had, in other words, recruited Garcia’s father to help with the Hochul fundraiser.
On Jan. 6 — one day after Hochul announced the $500 million in funding sought by the Human Services Council — Trobe emailed Garcia directly.
“See press release below from the Human Services Council congratulating Governor Hochul for supporting COLA in the coming budget,” Trobe wrote. “Note lots of very positive quotes from CEOs of nonprofit agencies applauding the Governor’s actions. This will provide a great impetus to the event I have discussed with Mackenzie” — the fundraiser.
Trobe declined to comment.
Last fall, records show that the Human Services Council lobbied the Executive Chamber on both the COLA and procurement reforms. Michelle Jackson, executive director of the Human Services Council, said the only Hochul official she directly lobbied on those topics last fall was Garcia.
But Jackson said she absolutely did not bring up campaign fundraising in her conversations with Garcia.
“As the voice for nonprofit human services organizations and their 800,000 workers across the state, the Human Services Council takes our status as a 501(c)(3) extremely seriously and we have never engaged in fundraising activity,” Jackson said on Thursday. “We have been fighting for equitable wages for our workers for 20 years through grassroots lobbying as former Gov. Cuomo continually robbed them of their mandated statutory COLA, depriving them of over $700 million in raises, and balancing the budget on their backs.”
On Friday, details of this year’s state budget agreement emerged — and the $500 million proposed by Hochul is included.
Hochul is longtime supporter of the disability community — a portion of the human services sector suffering a staffing crisis — and her office says the $500 millions helps New York meet “statutory obligations” to raise wages for human services workers.
No staff from the Human Services Council will be attending a Hochul campaign fundraiser and none were involved in its planning, Jackson said.
But she does believe Trobe’s virtual fundraising event is going forward, and is scheduled to occur at the end of April.
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/How-major-Hochul-campaign-donors-seek-sway-17064988.php