The Hawai'i State Teachers Association is among the top five in spending on lobbying over the past three legislative sessions, state records show, competing with private industries such as construction, real estate, oil and pharmaceutical interests for influence at the state Capitol.

The teachers' union, which is funded by public teacher dues, spent about $281,000 since 2005 to pay four of its executives to lobby the state Legislature, the fourth-highest amount among organizations with business at the Capitol.

The teachers' union, along with other labor unions, is an important ally of majority Democrats, and teachers often act as foot soldiers during election campaigns, waving signs and giving other grassroots support to favored candidates. The union has a sympathetic audience among Democrats in the state House and Senate, but its president, Roger Takabayashi, said lobbying helps ensure teacher issues get heard.

"Every decision is a political one," Takabayashi said. "We have to spend the time in order to make sure that our teachers and our students get the services that they so dearly need and deserve."

Organizations that lobby are required to file disclosure reports with the state Ethics Commission covering three time periods each year, two for the legislative session and one for the interim between sessions. The Advertiser compiled its list of the top five in lobbying spending based on reports from January 2005 through April of this year.

The Hawai'i Operating Engineers Industry Stabilization Fund, which represents heavy-equipment operators, the heart of the construction industry, topped the list of lobbying spending at about $340,000, followed by the Hawai'i Association of Realtors at about $329,000.

The Western States Petroleum Association, which fought the state's wholesale price cap on gasoline over the past few years, was third at about $285,000.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents drugmakers, was fifth at about $249,000.

PRACTICE HAS IMPACT

Jim Mazzola, the president of the Hawai'i Association of Realtors, said its lobbying figure is inflated because it spent more than $100,000 on advertising — which counted toward the total — to oppose a county tax option for mass transit in 2005.

But he said Realtors are a voice for housing opportunities, property rights, smart growth and quality-of-life issues at the Capitol.

"We do so because we believe in smart growth," Mazzola said of lobbying. "We spend many hours of our time campaigning to improve the quality of life in our communities."

Tupper Hull, a spokesman for the Western States Petroleum Association in Sacramento, Calif., said petroleum is a heavily regulated industry and he described Hawai'i lawmakers as particularly heavy-handed.

The association helped suspend the wholesale price cap on gas last year and get a tax break on ethanol-blended gas restored this year. The petroleum industry has promised to pass the tax break on to consumers starting this weekend.

Lobbying is often stigmatized as a tool of wealthy special interests, but dozens of organizations representing a spectrum of ideological and business interests have a routine presence at the Capitol.

Ira Rohter, a political science professor at the University of Hawai'i-Manoa, said it is not surprising the teachers' union is among the biggest spenders on lobbying given labor's historic political influence among Democrats. "I think everybody understands they are players down there," he said.

State Sen. Norman Sakamoto, D-15th (Waimalu, Airport, Salt Lake), the chairman of the Senate Education Committee, said the teachers' union has the ear of many key Democrats.

"They do have a sympathetic audience," Sakamoto said.

The teachers' union, which has more than 13,000 members, does not hire professional lobbyists. Instead, it uses its own seasoned staff members who are well-known at the Capitol and friendly with lawmakers and their aides. Along with Takabayashi, the union's team is Joan Husted, its executive director, staffer Maurice Morita and Beverly Gotelli, who works for the Hawaii State Teachers Association.

Over the past few years, the union has been successful at restoring the Voluntary Employees' Benefit Association health plan for teachers, which many teachers believe is superior to the state's employee health plan. Last session, the union was actively involved in the debate over teacher drug testing. A bill that would have required teachers to submit to testing after reasonable suspicion for drug use failed. But the new two-year contact between the teachers and the state includes both random and reasonable suspicion drug testing, which upset many teachers.

"We're lobbying for issues that will help children and public education, really, along with our medical, our VEBA health plan," Takabayashi said. "Teachers want us to provide better educational opportunities for our kids."

Reach Derrick DePledge at ddepledge@honoluluadvertiser.com.