Lawmakers To Lobbyists

So whatever happened to former Republican legislators Joe Stengel and Lauri Clapp?

The pair resigned from their seats early to allegedly steer clear of provisions in Amendment 41, a constitutional measure passed by voters that would require politicians to take a two-year “cooling off period” before becoming lobbyists.

Democrat Fran Coleman, another former lawmaker, also retired early from her term-limited seat. All three did so before former-Governor Bill Owens signed off on election results, thereby making Amendment 41 official.

And it was a good thing they did. Now the trio of former legislators are working together at the newly formed CSC Public Relations, LLC, and they’re all registered lobbyists. Earlier today, the blog Colorado Pols reported on rumors that the three had joined forces at a new firm. Government records show the gossip to be true, with Coleman serving as the registered agent for CSC Public Relations, which was formed early last week.

A list of clients doesn’t seem to be available yet, but the firm is sharing offices with Axiom Strategies, Inc, a well-known lobbying and political consulting business.

Erin Rosa was born in Spain and raised in Colorado Springs. She is a freelance writer currently living in Denver. Rosa's work has been featured in a variety of news outlets including the Huffington Post, Democracy Now!, and the Rocky Mountain Chronicle, an alternative-weekly in Northern Colorado where she worked as a columnist covering the state legislature. Rosa has received awards from the Society of Professional Journalists for her reporting on lobbying and woman's health issues. She was also tapped with a rare honorable mention award by the Newspaper Guild-CWA's David S. Barr Award in 2008--only the second such honor conferred in its nine-year history--for her investigative series covering the federal government's Supermax prison in the state. Rosa covers the labor community, corrections, immigration and government transparency matters. She can be reached at erosa@www.coloradoindependent.com.

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