This week, lobbyists have begun in earnest to talk to State Senators about the controversial bill that would overhaul the public retirement system.
On one side unions representing public employees want the Senate to substantially change the bill that came out of the House.
And they're using their political power to pressure those Senators they've supported in earlier elections.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Dan Gorenstein reports.
Manchester Senator Democrat Lou D’Allesandro will be the first one to say how much he loves the firefighters.
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:18...I was a youngster. My family lived on the third floor of a tenement house in South Boston. Someone was either smoking on the first floor, there was a gigantic fire took place and we were saved by firemen. I am here today by virtue of the fact that they saved the lives of myself, my brother, my father, my mother.
D’Allesandro says since he started running for public office in 1972, he’s gotten the support of firefighters.
And when you get support from firefighters in New Hampshire, that means a lot more than money.
TAPE: it can mean everything from knocking on doors, to making phone calls to holding signs, to nobody knows the streets in state of NH better than firefighters putting campaign signs out for all candidates.
That’s David Lang who heads up the firefighter’s union.
Lang knows labor’s ability to organize people is one of the unique benefits that comes with their endorsement.
The other is that unions can efficiently get word to its members that they should support a particular candidate.
Put it all together- the checks, the manpower, the means to communicate to many voters- and Republican Representative John Regan says he believes that influences how senators view the legislation.
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1:40...so it’s very easy to want to agree with them, and be their friend, you don’t want to be their enemy, you don’t want that negative force out there, marshalling votes against you.
Regan, and other House lawmakers worry due to labor’s influence, Senators will gut House Bill 1645.
That bill is an attempt to shore up the pension system which is some 2.7 billion dollars short of what it needs over the next 30 years.
But there are two provisions in particular that labor doesn’t like.
One is extending the mandatory retirement age for newly hired police and firefighters from 45 to 50.
The other would restructure the Retirement System’s Board of Trustees, taking away the employees majority.
Senator Bob Clegg has a firefighter’s helmet hanging on his office wall, and received plenty of financial help from the union.
But he says regardless of the relationship he has with labor, he’s got a relationship with all the tax payers in his district too.
And he says he knows, not making any changes to the retirement system would jack up property taxes.
TAPE: 1:06 that politician wasn’t with us in Concord...and that cost us a great deal of money and now your taxes are going up, try getting elected under those circumstances, that’s a bigger stick than any union has.
Most of the Senators who’ve gotten backed by labor say they have an open door policy and talk to anyone.
Every Senator interviewed for this story says their sole objective is to pass a bill that preserves retirement benefits and keeps costs in check.
That said, long-time labor lobbyist Dennis Parker says make no mistake- over the coming weeks senators will be under intense lobbying pressure.
TAPE: if you have a brother or a sister that comes up to you and needs some help, yet you don’t want to help them, you feel a certain amount of pressure, b/c of that relationship that you have...a lot of people have known each other and known them for quite some time...you are dealing with friends.
Going forward, David Lang, of the Firefighters union says there will be no retaliation over this legislation.
A number of lobbyists say pulling support over a single bill- even one as significant and high profile as this one- is rare.
They say you can’t play the game that when because tomorrow or next week, or next month, that same lobbyist will be back in front of the same senator on another bill.
For NHPR News, I’m DG.
