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$70 million flows to a beefed up Annapolis lobbying corpsThe top 10 highest earning lobbyists in the state earned slightly more as a group in the last year but saw their share  of compensation decrease as the size of the state’s lobbying corps surpassed pre-pandemic levels. <p>The 701 lobbyists who registered with the Maryland State Ethics Commission for the most recent year that runs Nov. 1, 2022 to Oct. 31, 2023 is more than the total registered before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The growth in the lobbying corps was accompanied by a nearly 7% increase in compensation to lobbyists overall, according to the most recent report from the state ethics panel. <p>Nearly 200 lobbyists reported earnings of at least $50,000. That is up from 180 the year before. <p>Those 195 lobbyists took in more than $65.8 million or roughly 93 cents of every dollar reported as compensation to lobbyists.<div class="mvp-post-ad-wrap"><span class="mvp-ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="mvp-post-ad"><!-- Composite Start --> <div id="M815923ScriptRootC1332091"> </div> <script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.co.uk/n/e/newspub.live.1332091.js" async> </script> <!-- Composite End --> </div></div> <p>One year ago, those reporting compensation of at least $50,000 accounted for nearly 94 cents of every dollar spent on lobbying. <p>The top 10 earners in the Maryland lobbying corps captured about 29 cents of every dollar spent, in the reporting period. That represents a nearly 2.5% increase year over year. <p>A dozen lobbyists — nine men and three women — reported earning at least $1 million, an increase of one over the previous year. <p>Six of those — five men and one woman — reported compensation of at least $1.9 million. <p>One lobbyist, Timothy Perry, reported nearly $3.9 million in earnings, an increase of more than 11% year over year. Perry finished the previous year first in reported earnings with nearly $3.5 million.<div class="mvp-post-ad-wrap"><span class="mvp-ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="mvp-post-ad"><!-- Composite Start --> <div id="M815923ScriptRootC1332091"> </div> <script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.co.uk/n/e/newspub.live.1332091.js" async> </script> <!-- Composite End --> </div></div> <p>Perry, a partner at Perry White Ross and Jacobson, is a former attorney and former chief of staff to the late Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller Jr. (D). <p>Three others — Gerard E. Evans and Lisa Harris Jones, and Michael Johansen — reported more than $2 million each in earnings. A year earlier, five lobbyists reported earnings of between $2 million and $3 million. <p>In all, 69 lobbyists — nearly 10% of the 701 registered with the ethics commission — reported earnings of at least $250,000. <p>Earnings for those 69 totaled more than $51.6 million. <p>Lobbyists earning $500,000 or more for the year covered in the report include:<br /> <ul><br /> <li>Timothy Perry $3,876,095.92</li><br /> <li>Gerard Evans $2,643,597.50</li><br /> <li>Lisa Harris Jones $2,333,850.00</li><br /> <li>Michael Johansen $2,035,301.00</li><br /> <li>Gregory Proctor Jr. $1,963,078.20</li><br /> <li>Bruce Bereano $1,903,582.50</li><br /> <li>Jonas Jacobson $1,768,500.00</li><br /> <li>Frank Boston, III $1,530,064.00</li><br /> <li>Delora Ifekauche $1,411,849.85</li><br /> <li>Sushant Sidh $1,242,220.00</li><br /> <li>David Carroll Jr. $1,221,426.00</li><br /> <li>Hannah Garagiola $1,067,151.59</li><br /> <li>J. Steven Wise $911,751.00</li><br /> <li>Joseph Bryce $881,750.00</li><br /> <li>Nicholas Manis $863,200.00</li><br /> <li>John Stierhoff $858,600.00</li><br /> <li>Patrick J. Hogan $833,783.80</li><br /> <li>Joel Rozner $826,120.00</li><br /> <li>Josh White $805,399.79</li><br /> <li>John Reith $802,804.00</li><br /> <li>John Favazza $757,200.00</li><br /> <li>Robert Garagiola $732,828.51</li><br /> <li>Danna Kauffman $722,936.00</li><br /> <li>William Kress $680,999.96</li><br /> <li>Bryson Popham $671,874.00</li><br /> <li>Ivan Lanier $668,800.00</li><br /> <li>D. Robert Enten $650,488.28</li><br /> <li>Jason Weintraub $621,782.32</li><br /> <li>Bernie Marczyk $621,143.79</li><br /> <li>Caitlin McDonough $617,870.00</li><br /> <li>Andrea Mansfield $598,500.00</li><br /> <li>John Pica Jr. $585,703.00</li><br /> <li>Brett Lininger $577,065.00</li><br /> <li>Sarah Peters $568,359.37</li><br /> <li>Marta Harting $545,905.00</li><br /> <li>Michael Arrington $514,750.00</li><br /> </ul><br /> <strong>Top lobbying firms</strong><div class="mvp-post-ad-wrap"><span class="mvp-ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="mvp-post-ad"><!-- Composite Start --> <div id="M815923ScriptRootC1332091"> </div> <script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.co.uk/n/e/newspub.live.1332091.js" async> </script> <!-- Composite End --> </div></div> <p>Nearly two-thirds of all compensation for lobbying — roughly $45.7 million — went to 16 firms during the reporting period.<br /> <ul><br /> <li>Perry White Ross &amp; Jacobson $7,029,406.78</li><br /> <li>Rifkin Weiner Livingston LLC $5,279,979.53</li><br /> <li>Harris Jones &amp; Malone $3,879,269.50</li><br /> <li>Cornerstone Government Affairs $3,381,802.23</li><br /> <li>Evans &amp; Associates, LLC $3,572,437.62</li><br /> <li>Manis Canning &amp; Associates $3,129,550.24</li><br /> <li>Compass Government Relations Partners, LLC $2,930,362.12</li><br /> <li>Capitol Strategies, LLC $2,659,897.82</li><br /> <li>Venable LLP $2,186,864.73</li><br /> <li>Schwartz, Metz, Wise &amp; Kauffman, P.A. $2,049,378.52</li><br /> <li>G.S. Proctor &amp; Associates, Inc. $2,053,743.68</li><br /> <li>Office of Bruce C. Bereano $1,953,438.33</li><br /> <li>Kress Hammen Government Affairs $1,587,699.93</li><br /> <li>Law Office of Frank D. Boston, III $1,550,493.94</li><br /> <li>Gordon Feinblatt LLC $1,396,441.79</li><br /> <li>Public Policy Partners $1,014,390.00</li><br /> </ul><br /> <strong>Where the money comes from</strong> <p>Nearly 1,500 businesses spent $77.6 million on lobbying during the reporting period, according to the ethics commission report. <p>Included in that are 539 businesses, trade groups, unions and associations that reported spending at least $50,000 on such efforts. That group combined to spend more than $57 million on lobbying in the reporting year. <p>Three companies with current or former ties to Exelon landed in the top ten for lobbying expenditures in Maryland. <p>Topping the list was Constellation Energy Generation, which spent more than $735,000 in the period that included the 2023 legislative session. The company was spun off from Exelon in 2022.<div class="mvp-post-ad-wrap"><span class="mvp-ad-label">Advertisement</span><div class="mvp-post-ad"><!-- Composite Start --> <div id="M815923ScriptRootC1332091"> </div> <script src="https://jsc.adskeeper.co.uk/n/e/newspub.live.1332091.js" async> </script> <!-- Composite End --> </div></div> <p>Pepco Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of Exelon, spent nearly $648,000 during the period. <p>Baltimore Gas and Electric Company, an Exelon company, bookended the top 10 list spending nearly $444,000. <p>Entities that spent the most on lobbying during the reporting period include:<br /> <ul><br /> <li>Constellation Energy Generation $735,806.52</li><br /> <li>Johns Hopkins $661,364.60</li><br /> <li>Maryland Jockey Club (Pimlico, Laurel, and Rosecroft race tracks) $650,527.41</li><br /> <li>Pepco Holdings, Inc. $647,813.06</li><br /> <li>CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield $644,907.04</li><br /> <li>Maryland Association of Realtors $586,900.54</li><br /> <li>Northeast Maglev, LLC, $574,777.11</li><br /> <li>Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce $483,074.48</li><br /> <li>Maryland Chamber of Commerce $472,915.63</li><br /> <li>Baltimore Gas and Electric Company $443,982.50</li><br /> </ul><br /> &nbsp;

Devin Russell watched as the ball he just hit sailed toward the left field foul pole. The ball curved about 20 feet from the pole landing in foul territory and causing Russell to head back to the plate. A couple of pitches later Russell looked up again, this time paying witness to a go-ahead two-run home run.

“It’s never a good feeling when you hit a foul ball home run because you feel really good seeing it go and then it’s just a long strike and then usually in baseball when you hit a foul ball home run you don’t hit a home run in the same at-bat,” Russell said postgame. “Yeah I got lucky and I got a good pitch to hit.”

Maryland (27-17, 7-10 Big Ten) scored eight runs in the first three innings to help beat Illinois (25-14, 11-3 Big Ten) in the second game of the weekend series, 9-8.  

Russell’s fifth home run of the season put Maryland ahead, 7-5, after the Illini tied the game in the top of the third. Russell finished the game batting one for four with the two RBIs and registering one of Maryland’s seven hits with two outs.

The Terps two-out hitting was a common occurrence in the first third of the game. The Terps scored two of their four first inning runs with two outs to go along with Russell’s two RBI. Kevin Keister and Michael Iannazzo came up with the two-out RBIs with a double and single respectively. 

Eddie Hacopian added to the two-out RBI category with a RBI double to left center in the bottom of the seventh breaking a scoreless three-inning stretch for Maryland. Eddie is four for nine this series.  

Maryland’s offense finished the game with 11 hits, four walks, and four hit-by-pitches. Five of the hits were for extra bases. Maryland only struck out five times which is a big improvement for a team which came into the weekend second in the Big Ten in strikeouts. 

“When you’re putting pressure on teams and you’re not punching in those situations and, you know, balls are going to be put in play, you know, if you’re striking out a lot and not having a good approach and, you know, you’re not going to have those chances,” head coach Matt Swope said. 

The starting pitching for both sides in this game wasn’t ideal as both head coaches pulled their starters before the fourth inning. Illinois starter, Cooper Omans, made it through only an inning giving up five earned runs. Maryland’s starter, Omar Melendez, lasted only two and two thirds innings giving up the same amount of earned runs. 

The two performances strayed from the norm for both pitchers, especially coming off impressive performances their last time out. Omans threw seven innings of one run ball against Northwestern in his prior start and in Melendez’s first Saturday start as a Terp he pitched six innings allowing two earned runs. 

Due to the lack of success of the starters, the game quickly turned into a battle of the bullpens and Swope’s first move was to bring out former Friday starter Kenny Lippman. Lippman pitched well, giving up only one run in his four and a third innings pitched. Lippman struck out five hitters and walked only one, holding Illinois scoreless for three innings.

“Testament to him he’s been pretty good the last couple outings so he did a great job kind of stabilizing the wild first three and four innings right there,” Swope said. 

Logan Berrier took over for Lippman in the eighth and struggled to put away the Illinois lineup. Berrier gave up two hits and walked two in the top of the eighth allowing the Illini to cut Maryland’s, 9-6 lead, down to one.

Berrier stayed on to pitch the ninth and allowed the lead-off hitter to reach base via a base hit. The next batter laid down a sacrifice bunt moving the runner into scoring position, but it didn’t matter. Berrier struck out the remaining two hitters to end the game. 

Maryland’s pitching allowed 15 hits — only three for extra bases — and four walks while striking out eight batters. Maryland’s arms continued to struggle against Camden Janik who is now five for eight this series. 

Maryland will have a chance to win the weekend series on Sunday in the series rubber match. The Terps are 3-0 on Sunday at home this season.       

Related

Maryland baseball benefited from an early offensive explosion and held off a late push from Illinois to win the second game of their weekend series, 9-8, Saturday in College Park.

Saturday’s win was crucial for Maryland, which will have a chance Sunday to end a streak of four straight series losses. Doing so against the Fighting Illini — who sit first in the BIg Ten standings — makes the opportunity even more enticing.

There were plenty of fireworks early on Saturday. Maryland put up four runs in the first inning, but Omar Melendez gave up a long three-run home run to Jacob Schroeder in the second. Maryland center fielder Elijah Lambros answered with a no-doubt home run to center field shortly after, however Melendez then gave up a two-run home run to Vytas Valincius, tying the game at five.

Melendez was pulled after just 2 ⅔ innings. He gave up five earned runs on seven hits.

“He left some stuff up in the zone, maybe a little bit too much today,” Terps head coach Matt Swope said of Melendez. “He’s got to go to work that changeup down and then the fastball up in the zone.”

Devin Russell put the Terps right back in the lead with a third-inning two-run home run before Eddie Hacopian hit an RBI single to right field to make it 8-5, and Illinois added a run in the top of the fourth. But things cooled down thereafter. The next five innings were scoreless.

Kenny Lippman was lights-out for Maryland after relieving Melendez. He gave the Terps some length, going 4 ⅓ innings, and gave up just one earned run, posting five strikeouts.

Maryland got some more run support in the bottom of the seventh when Hacopian hit an RBI double, setting the stage for reliever Logan Berrier to finish the game.

However, shortly after Berrier entered for the eighth inning, Illinois started inching closer. A hit-by-pitch and passed ball made it a one-run game, and after the Terps went scoreless in the bottom half, the pressure was on.

Schroeder got on base with a single, and a sacrifice bunt brought him to second. But with two outs, Berrier sent Connor Milton down on strikes to end it.

“I said, ‘There wasn’t even a question, we’re gonna send you back out,’” Swope said of his conversation with Berrier. “‘You’ve been lights out all year. … Take a deep breath and go back out there, have a clean inning and then get us a dub.’ And that’s what he did.”

Three things to know

1. Lippman was crucial out of the bullpen. After being taken out of the weekend rotation, Lippman has settled into his new bullpen role well. His performance on Saturday was paramount in the Terps’ win.

2. Lambros had a big day. Lambros recorded three hits, including a home run, out of the nine spot in the lineup. “​​It’s just like, kind of more of what we expect from him if if we’re gonna make a run and we’re gonna do some things here down the stretch,” Swope said.

3. The offense broke out. Maryland’s offense put up nine runs, able to outscore the Illini despite a rough start from the Terps’ pitching staff.