(The Associated Press circulated the following article on November 11.)
RAPID CITY, S.D. — Senate records show that John Thune received in the neighborhood of $220,000 in lobbying fees from the Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad before he was elected to the U.S. Senate a year ago.
As a former congressman, Thune couldn’t lobby Congress, so he represented the railroad’s interests to various federal agencies between his last term in the U.S. House and his November 2004 election win over Democrat Tom Daschle for a Senate seat.
Thune is helping DM&E obtain a $2.5 billion loan from the federal government to extend the rail line to coal fields in Wyoming and rebuild its line across South Dakota.
Thune’s help for a former client is not against the law or against Senate rules, and the lobbying fees are public record.
“It is well known that Sen. Thune worked with DM&E and other railroads during his time away from Congress,” Thune spokesman Kyle Downey told the Rapid City Journal.
“In fact, he highlighted this experience over the weekend during the announcement of this loan program, both in his remarks and written press release.”
Thune introduced legislation that allows DM&E to get the loan through the Federal Railroad Administration.
“Sen. Thune is proud of his work, while serving in both the public and private sectors, to improve South Dakota’s rail system,” Downey said.
Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Rep. Stephanie Herseth, D-S.D., also supported Thune’s legislation to help DM&E.
Thune also worked for the ethanol industry while out of Congress and for the National Milk Producers Federation, Sioux Valley Hospitals and Health Systems and other clients with interests in South Dakota.
The semiannual lobbying reports are rounded to the nearest $10,000. The four reports for the two years he worked for DM&E show payments totaling $220,000, plus or minus $40,000.
Thune worked on railroad issues before his election to Congress – in 1984 at the state Department of Transportation and from 1991 to 1993 as state director of railroads.