General Electric Already Throwing Cash at Beacon Hill Lobbyists

Photo by Kyle Clauss

In the six months since Gov. Charlie Baker and Mayor Marty Walsh courted General Electric to Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood with a bevy of tax incentives and other perks, the industrial giant has spent to ensure it keeps a few sympathetic ears on Beacon Hill.

GE spent $135,000 on lobbying in the first half of its splashy 2016, including $120,000 to ML Strategies, the Herald reports. The firm, led by president and former Massachusetts senator William “Mo” Cowan, raked in more than $1.7 million through the end of June.

GE, who threw $50,000 at Beacon Hill lobbyists in last December alone, has kept a keen eye on the development of its publicly funded helipad, which Boston economic development chief John Barros said in April would not be located on any of the three buildings proposed for the company’s future headquarters at the Necco Court site.

“We have to find a location with true public access,” he told reporters at GE’s welcome party atop 60 State Street. Last week, a state official told the State House News Service that a temporary helipad could be ready as early as September.