California lawmakers-turned-lobbyists cultivate relationships under the dome

The Sacramento Bee reports:

Among the more than 1,200 lobbyists who do business in the state Capitol are a few dozen who know the lawmaking process from the inside: former legislators who now earn a living trying to influence their former colleagues.

State law prevents lawmakers from lobbying the Legislature within a year of leaving office. But even with that "cooling off" period, lawmakers-turned-lobbyists enjoy relationships with legislators that most other advocates will never develop.

"It's a relational world in politics, as it is in most of life," said Rick Keene, a lobbyist who represented the Chico area in the state Assembly from 2002 to 2008.

Is it time for a surtax on former politicians like Professor Glenn Reynolds suggested.