The business of lobbying is opaque to most people. Lobbyists apply their craft behind closed doors with elected officials, their staffers or “in the lobby” outside the legislative chamber, which is where they get their name. 

Long-time lobbyist for the Retail Council of New York, Ted Potrikus, has just published a book titled “Lobbying 101: What Is It, Exactly, That You Do?” about his experiences as lobbyist in Albany. It’s a fun read: part memoir, part “how-to” and part “Albany Confidential” from a guy who spent decades wearing a path in the marble of the third floor hallway between chambers of the state’s capitol.

In an interview told Capital Tonight, Potrikus said he wrote the book to defend the practice of lobbying “a little."

“It gets a bad rap, and I think sometimes deservedly so,” he explained. “You have the picture of Mr. Moneybags walking into an office and saying here, pass this bill or kill this bill. To me, it was never like that.”

Instead, Potrikus said lobbyists can play an important role in the making of public policy by bringing real world experience to the process.

“A legislator could come in…with an idea. And it could be a very good idea, but it’s just not going to work in the real world. I think where lobbyists come in, at least where I tried to work with the Retail Council and my team there, was to show how the retail industry really worked,” he explained. “How could we figure out this idea that you may have as a legislator, so it didn’t just turn into a big lawsuit.”