New Jersey lawmakers among largest beneficiaries of Wall Street cash

By Darryl R. Isherwood | February 9th, 2012 - 4:24pm

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Three New Jersey lawmakers were among the nation’s highest recipients of campaign donations from members of the financial services industry, according to federal campaign figures compiled in the wake of the passage of the STOCK Act prohibiting members of Congress from insider trading.

Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez, a co-sponsor of the act, which passed in the Senate last week and in the House earlier today, was 18th among all senators, receiving a total of $702,258 between 2005 and last year. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, another co-sponsor of the bill, was 25th among all senators with a total haul of $538,533 from members of the securities and investment industry.

On the House side, House Financial Services Committee member Scott Garrett, a Republican, had the 7th highest total among all 438 House Members, bringing in $294,710 between 2009 and 2011.

The data was compiled by MapLight, which bills itself as a non-partisan research organization following the influence of money in politics.

In a release, MapLight took the House to task for failing to include an amendment in its version of the STOCK Act that omitted disclosure requirements for members of so-called “political intelligence” firms that gather information on potential legislation to sell to hedge funds and others who might benefit from the early knowledge.

With New Jersey home to the second largest number of financial services employees, it's no surprise lawmakers from the state do well.

Scott Garrett Republican $294,710
Rush Holt Democrat $109,627
Leonard Lance Republican $58,450
Rodney Frelinghuysen Republican $52,400
Frank Pallone Democrat $29,750
William Pascrell Democrat $27,700
Steven Rothman Democrat $26,165
Robert Andrews Democrat $22,966
Jon Runyan Republican $21,250
Frank LoBiondo Republican $6,800
Albio Sires Democrat $5,500
Donald Payne Democrat $3,750

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