Baron Hill repays old employer with taxpayer dollars

YOU SCRATCH MY BACK... - U.S. Representative Baron Hill won House approval for $625,000 in taxpayer funds for clients of mCapitol, the same lobby firm that hired him and his Chief of Staff after Hill's 2004 defeat.

When U.S. Representative Baron Hill, D-IN, was defeated in 2004 by Mike Sodrel, he went to work as Senior Advisor for mCapitol, a Washington, DC, lobby firm. According to Congressional records, Hill earned $237,500 in 16 months at mCapitol, even though House ethics rules prevented him from lobbying his former Congressional colleagues for one year.

After winning a rematch against Sodrel in 2006, Hill is back in Congress, and it didn’t take long for mCapitol to see a return on its investment.

According to a Gannett News Service report, and a review of federal lobbying records by the Majority Accountability Project (www.majorityap.com), Hill won House approval for at least $625,000 in federal earmarks for mCapitol clients.

Gannett reported on August 20 that Hill garnered $375,000 for Schneck Medical Center in Seymour, IN, and $250,000 for Next Wave Systems of Pekin, IN.  Schneck Medical Center paid mCapitol $30,000 in lobbying fees through the end of 2006, while Next Wave has paid $40,000 through June 30, 2007.

Official lobbying records report that mCapitol’s lobbyist assigned to Schneck Medical Center was Ryan Guthrie, Hill’s longtime chief of staff.  When Hill joined mCapitol in February, 2005, Guthrie was hired with him, as a company Vice President.  After Hill’s 2006 victory, Guthrie left mCapitol to rejoin him as Chief of Staff.

Since the Indiana Democrat reneged on a pledge to release all his requests for federal funding, it’s impossible to know whether Hill sought even more taxpayer funds for mCapitol clients.

Not long after his election, amid a clamor over reforming the process by which members of Congress obtain federal funds for pet projects, Hill pledged to make public all his funding requests.

“Most people know about the ‘highway to nowhere,” Hill told the News and Tribune in January, 2007.  “So I think that if people knew about the ‘highway to nowhere’ up front by having to declare what you’re trying to get money for, they know that would stop this kind of thing from going on.”

But in April, 2007, Hill told the Indianapolis Star he would not release those “requests despite earlier statements because (he wanted) to respect the privacy of those who have come to them asking for help.”

The paper reported Hill was likewise asked if he would disclose "a list of every earmark request you make this year."

"If I believe in transparency, I ought to be able to share it with you," the article said Hill replied in November.

Hill’s office tried to explain the about-face by saying he “misunderstood the question and only promised to disclose his requests that receive funding.”

Hill is the freshmen Democrat with the most prior experience in Congress.  Hill served three terms in Congress before his 2004 defeat, and was a member of Democrat leadership as Chief Deputy Whip, making his claim to have “misunderstood” the question less than credible.