Former congressman cashing in on connections

[Alan C.]

Former congressman cashing in on connections

 

Retired U.S. Rep. Jerry Costello. D-Ill., spent his entire congressional career serving on the House committee that oversees railroads, highways, transit and aviation.Now, the connections he made during 24 years representing a Downstate district are proving lucrative for Costello as a lobbyist and consultant for transportation and other interests.According to interviews and records:• As a congressman, Costello pushed for the Air Force to award a $35 billion tanker contract to Boeing Corp. The Chicago company now pays him $10,000 a month as a lobbyist. It also hired his son John Costello as an Illinois lobbyist while Costello was in Congress.• In the House, he helped downstate Scott Air Force base survive multiple rounds of base closings. Now, Costello, who left Congress in January 2013, is part of a team paid $25,000 a month to help keep Scott safe from future base closings.• Costello, the congressman, secured millions of dollars for the downstate Madison County Transit District — and now gets $7,000 a month from the agency as a lobbyist.Records show John Costello also has found work with interests his father backed in Congress:• The congressman helped the freight railroad industry in its successful 2012 fight to beat back an effort to allow bigger trucks on the nation’s highways. During that time, the Illinois Railroad Association paid Costello’s son as much as $60,000 a year to lobby in Springfield.• Costello was an advocate in the House for renewing a federal tax credit for “short line” railroads. An industry group called the Short Line Tax Policy Coalition hired Costello’s son as an Illinois lobbyist as this issue was being debated in Congress.The former congressman says clients have sought him as a lobbyist because, “They knew that I was knowledgeable. I had experience.”Costello, 64, says his son was hired to lobby on state issues and that no one got special consideration from him in Congress as a result.John Costello did not respond to requests for comment.. . .In 2013, his first year out of Congress, Costello set up a solo lobbying practice in his hometown of Belleville and made at least $200,000 in fees, according to interviews and financial disclosure reports. He also draws a $60,000-a-year federal pension, plus state and local pensions totaling an additional $19,000 a year.