PMA Group

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The PMA Group is a government relations firm based in Washington D.C. Although the group initially concentrated on defense issues, they have expanded their areas of expertise to include: Homeland Security; Education; Energy, Environment and Natural Resources; Health; Information Technology; State and Local Infrastructure; and Transportation. PMA is considered a leader in "government relations, legislative counsel, and federal sector-funding."^[1]^[2] The firm's annual lobbying income climbed steadily to its 2006 peak at $16,060,000. In 2007, the firm's income totaled $9,010,132.^[3]

[edit] History and Personnel

The PMA Group was founded by Paul Magliocchetti in 1989.^[4] For a decade, Magliocchetti worked as a senior staffer on the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee under its chairman, U.S. Rep. John Murtha. In September 2007, the nonprofit Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) ranked Murtha, a congressman for thirty-six years, one of the twenty-two "most corrupt" members of Congress, due to "alleged ethics violations stemming “from abuse of his position on the subcommittee to benefit the lobbying firm of a former long-term staffer and for threatening to block earmarks of other members for political purposes."" Since Magliocchetti's departure from the defense subcommmittee, PMA and its clients have established themselves as "major contributors to Murtha's campaign committee," donating well over $200,000 to the 2002, 2004, and 2006 campaign cycles. Consequently, PMA's clients have received notable benefits from Murth's earmarks. In 2006, for example, PMA clients were given "at least 60 earmarks totaling $95.1 million."^[5]