This interesting document is then-Attorney General of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro’s Application seeking Michael Bloomberg-provided “Special Assistant Attorneys General” (and accompanying full-time PR staff out of DC to support cooperative AGs).
These in-kind gifts privately underwrite government execution of donor priorities (a practice that’s caught on and expanded among progressive funders and elected officials, across the land after first emerging in governors‘ offices—now in state utility regulatory commissions, even to the Biden White House and on Capitol Hill, on its face a violation of House ethics rules). Most of these arrangements cry out for public, legislative oversight, ethics and possibly even prosecutorial debate: is this in fact ok? If so, how and why is this ok?
These Bloomberg “SAAGs” Shapiro sought would be provided to “advanc[e] progressive clean energy, climate change, and environmental legal positions” [from the Bloomberg group’s invitation], i.e., “to advance the agenda represented by the State Impact Center” [that quote is from then-Virginia OAG Mark Herring’s office’s remarkably candid application].
As Shapiro noted at the time, his profile presented a unique opportunity to advance the progressive regulatory agenda. Excerpts are below, the entire document is here:
APPLICATION OF THE PENNSYLVANIA OFFICE OF ATTORNEY GENERAL FOR THE NYU FELLOWS/SAAG PROGRAM
There is plenty more to do. Attorney General Shapiro would like to build on these early efforts to further establish the PA OAG as a national leader on environmental issues.
Pennsylvania is a large, industrial state with a long history of fossil fuel production. It is in a unique position among such states because it is pursuing a progressive environmental policy agenda. When the PA OAG joins a lawsuit to prevent the delay of methane emissions standards from new oil and gas sources, it does so as a state whose citizens are directly impacted by emissions from the significant natural gas exploration activities in its own Marcellus Shale region. Similarly, when the PA OAG sues the USEPA to prevent delay in implementing new ozone regulations, it does so as a geographically vast and politically “purple” northeastern state with large metropolitan areas, disproportionately impacted by smog. When the PA OAG monitors potential changes to regulations on issues like coal ash disposal, it does so as a state whose own energy production remains largely based on the burning of coal. This “Pennsylvania perspective” provides a unique and powerful platform from which to create progressive environmental legal and policy change – from within. Put otherwise, while many states can and do fight for progressive environmental legal change, when that fighter is a coal-burning, Marcellus Shale gas-extracting, ozone-suffering state where environmental action may not always be politically palatable, the impact of an environmental leader like Attorney General Josh Shapiro is simply more powerful.
Being a leader of these efforts, however, requires economic resources. Perhaps because of its unique position, previous Pennsylvania attorneys general did not focus on environmental protection efforts. Therefore, the environmental section Attorney General Shapiroinherited was notably smaller than those found in attorney general offices of other environmental leaders. As such, granting Pennsylvania’s application will be particularly significant. It will allow the PA OAG not just to join other states in lawsuits challenging the Trump Administration’s efforts to weaken environmental regulations, but to hire one or more SAAGs so it can be more proactive across-the-board and serve as the lead plaintiff in future such actions. …
As a result of all these factors, the addition of one or more SAAGs to the PA OAG’s Environmental Protection Section will have a meaningful and outsized impact on Attorney General Shapiro’s ability to increase Pennsylvania’s environmental protection efforts.
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The salary for a SAAG hired under this program will depend on his or her level of experience. By way of a range, we offer the following information regarding salaries for Deputy Attorneys General (“DAG”) beginning with DAG 1 (i.e., entry level with minimal experience), then DAG 2 (a few years’ experience) and ending with DAG 3 (usually 5+ years’ experience):
DAG 1: starting salary $56,020; total cost with benefits and other expenses: $96,700
DAG 2: starting salary $64,059; total cost with benefits and other expenses: $110,600
DAG 3: starting salary $73,233 ; total cost with benefits and other expenses: $126,500