Almost $1 million in your taxes were paid to SC agency lobbyists in the 1st 5 months of this year.

What the lobbyists do was not revealed, but you can bet it included letting them spend more tax money.

From Jan. 1 through May 31, 44 state and local agencies including taxpayerowned Santee Cooper and local fire and water/sewer districts, collectively spent at least $812,661 on lobbyists, we found in State Ethics Commission records.

Lobbyist payments represent only a small part of what public agencies spent to influence state officials.

• Clemson University paid 3 lobbyists $25,065.

Clemson also paid lobbyist Angela Leidinger, its vice president for external affairs, another $248,018 annually.

Clemson paid another lobbyist, Mark Cothran, its associate vice president of governmental affairs, $121,112.

Clemson’s database contained no salary information for the 3rd lobbyist, Michael Wright, its director of governmental affairs.

Clemson also has a 6-person Office of Governmental Affairs in a high-rise building across the street from the State House in Columbia.

• The University of South Carolina paid 7 lobbyists $62,500. 2 lobbyists work for the university,

Derrick Meggie is director of state government relations. Craig Parks is director of government relations,

Meggie and Parks each make $180,000 annually.

4 other lobbyists including Billy Boan, a former SC House member, work in Mc-GuireWoods Consulting’s Columbia office, headed by former Gov. Jim Hodges.

• The Medical University of SC paid 3 lobbyists $48,359. Lobbyist Mark Sweatman is MUSC’s chief of governmental affairs and secretary to the board,

Another lobbyist, Katherine Haltiwanger, is a university legislative liaison.

The 3rd lobbyist, Quenton Tompkins, is MUSC’s government affairs manager.

• Santee Cooper, which lawmakers may sell after its failed $9 billion nuclear fiasco, reported paying $56,917 to lobbyists Geoffrey Penland and Yvette Rowland.

As Santee Cooper’s manager of state and federal government relations, Penland’s salary is $175,047.

As senior state and federal government relations liaison, Rowland’s is $160,000.

• The SC Ports Authority and SC Research Authority paid lobbyists $30,080.

In 2003, then-Gov. Mark Sanford banned cabinet agencies from hiring outside contractors to lobby,

Despite that, Gov. Henry McMaster hired a law and consulting firm under an “emergency procurement” contract to lobby the federal government at a taxpayer cost of $15,000 a month. Brundrett is news editor of The Nerve (www.thenerve.org). Contact him at rick@thenerve.org .