Where Idealism and Lobbying Intersect : Capitol: Advocate for nonprofit public interest groups is a persistent underdog who can savor occasional victories--such as the passage of a bike helmet law.

Steve Barrow is a lobbyist. And an idealist.

On the wall above his desk is a quote from French philosopher-novelist Albert Camus: “I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice.”

That may seem surprising in a profession with a popular image below that of carnival pitchman, mercenary or even politician.

But Barrow is among a small number of professional lobbyists who work the Capitol on behalf of nonprofit, public interest organizations. In a Statehouse in which moneyed interests command respect, these are the frustrated reformers, the underdogs.

With persistence and passion for their causes, they urge legislators to stand up for principle.

Sometimes they actually win.

And few are as effective as Barrow. Mounted on the wall above his desk is half of a bicycle helmet. The odd object commemorates his role in passing the state law requiring minors to wear protective headgear while riding bicycles.

As Sacramento representative of two nonprofit foundations--the Children’s Advocacy Institute and the Center for Public Interest Law--Barrow also has his share of losses.

A child-drowning prevention bill lost because of opposition by the swimming pool industry. The center for public interest has been unable to win support for a measure combining the two separate boards that regulate funeral homes and cemeteries.

Barrow compares his job to selling cars from a lot, something he did while growing up in Oregon.

“You’re a realist,” Barrow said. “You make an experienced determination how far you have to go, what you have to give up to make an advance.”

But there are limits, he said, adding, “At other times you have to go down in flames.”

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Boys and girls do not grow up dreaming to become lobbyists.

And after almost 15 years, Barrow is still surprised at finding himself here. At 41, he is a veteran of the public interest lobbying corps.

Raised in a “low middle-income family,” he worked his way through UC Davis, partly by caring for seriously disabled roommates. He began volunteering in support of the rights of the disabled.

He also worked as a paramedic; one night while lifting a patient, he ruptured three discs in his back.

Insurance provided rehabilitation, including six months salary at a new job. Barrow was snapped up by the California Tax Reform Assn., a nonprofit group that lobbies to close tax loopholes and tax the rich.

After a stint with California Common Cause, he landed his present job.

Unlike many of the nonprofit groups with lobbyists in the Capitol, the two organizations that Barrow works for are not hurting for cash. Both are backed by Price Club founder Sol Price and the Weingart Foundation.

Barrow’s salary, in the mid-$50,000 range, is higher than most of his colleagues. “Most public interest groups pay anywhere from the high teens to the mid-30s,” he said.

Top lobbyists representing corporate interests make hundreds of thousands.

Barrow’s office is in a downtown building with marbled corridors that has seen grander days. Many public interest lobbyists lease space here and it has been dubbed “the public interest ghetto” or the “do-good building.”

And on a recent afternoon, the air conditioning proved no match for Central Valley temperatures reaching into the 100s. After 5 p.m., and on weekends, there is no air conditioning.

The lack of pretentiousness almost seems a point of pride with Barrow.

He doesn’t pal around with legislators after work, but drives home to his wife and children. “We’re Ozzie and Harriet,” he said. “I live on Maple Lane. I coach Little League and soccer.”

He knows he is at a disadvantage because the groups he works for, like most nonprofits, do not buy tickets to campaign events.

“We don’t pay $500 to eat rubber chicken at a fund-raiser,” he said. “We don’t cat around with them at night.”

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Of the 1,100 registered lobbyists who work the Capitol, about 90 represent nonprofit public interest groups.

In the same “do-good building” as Barrow are lobbyists for the California National Organization for Women and the California ProLife Council, an anti-abortion group; the Planning and Conservation League, a major environmental organization, and the Committee for Moral Concerns, a Christian values group.

Most of the public interest organizations would be regarded as being liberal.

Like Barrow, they generally have to settle for small victories--the defeat of a particularly harmful bill, the amendment of another.

“My job is very tough,” said Lenny Goldberg, who represents several public interest groups, including the California Tax Reform Assn. “I’m arguing for taxes. Who’s for taxes?”

Some of these lobbyists are so certain of defeat that just getting a vote is sometimes a victory. The California ProLife Council settled for symbolic roll-call votes on a proposal to end repeat abortions under Medi-Cal.

“We’re not naive,” said the Council’s executive director, Brian Johnston. “And we know that there are certain things that can’t get out of this Legislature. The leadership won’t let it.”

On a recent afternoon, California NOW lobbyist Roberta White Battle was trying to console herself over the loss of a bill she had been working on for six months. The measure was “a move away bill,” which would have given a custodial parent after a divorce--most often the mother--greater freedom to move away for a better job or for schooling.

Battle spoke what could be the mantra of the public interest lobbyist: “You have the feeling you can do something. If you don’t win today, you can come back tomorrow and eventually things do change this way, little by little.”

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Early in the current two-year legislative session, Barrow and other lobbyists representing children’s groups held a reception for legislators in the Capitol’s sixth-floor cafeteria. Only five of the 120 legislators dropped by.

About the same time, the California Manufacturers Assn. held a more lavish affair across the street from the Capitol in the lobby of the old Senator Hotel. Twenty-eight legislators attended.

“The legislators mouth that they care about kids,” Barrow says, “but kids are the lowest priority.”

For him a case in point is a measure by Sen. Teresa Hughes (D-Inglewood), which would have required fencing or warning devices on all new swimming pools. Even with the backing of several insurance companies, supporters of the bill could not overcome an all-out lobbying effort by the pool builders. “We got slammed,” Barrow said.

Still, there have been triumphs. Barrow was the lead lobbyist on the bicycle helmet bill, carried by freshman Assemblyman Louis Caldera (D-Los Angeles).

Caldera credits Barrow with being able to come up with ways of reaching reluctant legislators just before crucial legislative votes. “We would say, ‘Steve, we’ve got to find someone in X member’s district, someone close to him whose opinion he respects,’ ” Caldera said.

To reach individual legislators during floor sessions, lobbyists must line up at gates outside the Senate and Assembly chambers. Barrow says that he, like many public interest lobbyists, has little luck getting legislators to come to the gate. But allies in the bicycle helmet fight--lobbyists for insurance companies and the California Trial Lawyers Assn.--had no such difficulty.

“The most experienced public interest lobbyists work with people who have money and use them as a cloak, as a cape to work on the issue,” Barrow said. “As long as you don’t have to give up substance or ethics or sell your soul, it is a wise thing to do.”

On the wall above Barrow’s desk is a Times story about a Huntington Beach youngster who collided with a car while riding home from school. The article quotes a local fire official saying it was the helmet that saved the girl from serious injury.

“That’s your reward,” he said, pointing to the story.