Senator Dick Durbin's wife Loretta knows about lobbying:
Prior to forming Government Affairs Consulting, LLC in 2012, Loretta Durbin was a partner in the lobbying firm of Government Affairs Specialists, Inc. (GASI). GASI, a bi-partisan firm that contracted with a varied array of clientele, lobbied in the Illinois legislature for more than ten years prior to the retirement of one of its partners. While with GASI, she lobbied for a public university, local unit of government, not-for-profit human service, social service and planning entities. From 1985 to 1994, she worked in the Illinois Senate under the leadership of Senate President Philip J. Rock and Democratic Leader Emil Jones, Jr. She worked closely with Senators on legislative initiatives ranging from elementary and secondary education to state government operations to executive appointments. Following that, Loretta Durbin served in a senior capacity for the Illinois Commission on Intergovernmental Cooperation; an agency of the Illinois General Assembly that tracks federal funds provided to the state, analyzes federal legislation affecting the state, and determines the impact of state mandates on local governmental units. She also supports candidates as a volunteer and donor. She is a founding member and President of the Illinois Women’s Institute for Leadership, a comprehensive training program that prepares women to become successful candidates for public office. She is active in her community of Springfield where she resides.Since Dick Durbin votes on federal education funding that goes to the state of Illinois: you might say Loretta is the master rent seeker.
