Columbia Mayor Steve Benjamin registers as a lobbyist for Prisma Health

Columbia’s mayor has a new side gig.

Steve Benjamin, who is not seeking reelection this year after three terms in office, has registered as a lobbyist for Prisma Health, the state’s largest health system. He filed to lobby for Prisma earlier this year, according to state Ethics Commission records.

“I did register to lobby and I will be doing some work for them going forward,” Benjamin, an attorney, told The State on Wednesday. News of Benjamin’s lobbying efforts was first reported by The Post and Courier.

State law allows for city or county elected officials to serve as lobbyists while they are in office. Members of the General Assembly and statewide elected officials are not allowed to lobby while in office or until a year after they leave office.

The idea of a Columbia mayor working as a lobbyist while in office is not uncommon. Former Mayor Bob Coble, an attorney who was mayor from 1990 to 2010, lobbied for Providence Hospital for years while also leading the capital city.

“When I was mayor, for the whole time, and even before I was mayor and after I was mayor, I was a registered lobbyist for Providence,” Coble told The State. “I handled various issues, health care issues, that would come up. ... City officials have to make a living, and if you are a lawyer, you may be a lobbyist.”

Prisma officials did not have expansive comment on Benjamin’s role when reached Thursday morning, except to acknowledge he is registered to lobby for the company in the General Assembly.

Benjamin announced in January he wouldn’t be seeking a fourth term as mayor. Three candidates — District 4 Councilman Daniel Rickenmann, at-large Councilwoman Tameika Isaac Devine and former Benjamin aide Sam Johnson — have announced campaigns to seek the seat.

The mayor said he expects his lobbying work with the state’s largest hospital system will stretch past his time as mayor. But he said he doesn’t foresee lobbying, in general, to become an overwhelming focus for him after he leaves office.

“I’m a lawyer and through my law firm I represent a number of clients,” he said. “But I don’t expect to be doing any other government affairs work, other than the work I do and the strategic advice I provide to Prisma and their executives. ... Prisma is a significant enterprise, with a footprint across 21 counties.”

The mayor said he will be recused from any measures dealing with Prisma that might be taken up by City Council during the remainder of his time in office.

“Before taking on the client and before registering as a lobbyist, I also filed the proper paperwork with our (Council) clerk disclosing potential conflicts of interest and directing the city attorney and clerk to basically build a wall to preclude me from considering any matters affecting Prisma Health that might come before the city,” he said.

Benjamin’s voice is one that rings out beyond City Hall. He is the former president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, a former student body president at the University of South Carolina and a frequent participant in Democratic political discussions on the national level, including with an address at the 2016 Democratic National Convention.