As bad as the real and perceived conflict the employer presents, what may be even worse is a legislative leader helping lobbyists get hired and letting them dictate agendas.
There seems to be little doubt that the Mayernicks benefit from a close relationship with Joe Negron, the question is: Do they benefit from working issues Joe likes or does Joe like simply like helping them on their issues?
It’s good to be close to Joe
Many news outlets have noted that lobbyists Frank and Tracy Mayernick are so close to the Senate President, that they’ve earned a reputation for being Joe Negron’s de facto mouthpieces. A paid contract lobbyist being noted as the “mouthpiece” for the President of the Senate — could anything sound more offensive to a voter than that?
From a cursory look at a few issues and how they moved in recent legislative sessions, it appears that in addition to lending his mouthpiece to the Mayernicks, Negron may also be letting them dictate legislative priorities, calendaring and policy decisions.
