Citizens wonder whether lobbyists run the show down at the Capitol. Actually, the lobbying world operates like a rugby scrum, with players changing teams all the time, often just as they’re huddling up for the game.

Lobbying, in short, is not for the faint of heart.

The lobbyists’ job can be straightforward. Take HB15-1300, the minimum wage bill. The pro-minimum wagers knew they would go down. Siegel Public Affairs, Lauren Martens, Elliott Williams, Mike Cerbo, Phil Hayes, and Meghan Matthews represented prominent players on the losing side: 9 to 5, SEIU, Colorado Fiscal Institute and the Colorado AFL-CIO.

Lobbyists with business clients lined up against the bill: JW Artist, Politicalworks, Nexus Policy Group, the Kirchhof Group, Brandeberry McKenna, Colorado Winning Edge and Mary Lou Chapman of the Rocky Mountain Food Industry Association. Opponents won because Republicans, opposed to the minimum wage hike, control the state Senate, where the bill went down.

All told, lobbyists made 311 client position entries on the bill — a measure of lobbying activity — with the Secretary of State.

The New Hospital Provider Fee Enterprise bill, HB15-1389, drew 307 entries. The bill created an enterprise to replace the hospital provider fee board, allowing the state to avoid TABOR limits on provider fees.

Here, lobbyists opposing the minimum wage bill joined unanimously with minimum wage supporters and their interests. The Association of General Contractors, unions, hospitals, school districts, health insurers, the League of Women Voters, the Denver Chamber, Colorado Concern, medical associations, and nuns all worked to muscle the bill through.

Some of the state’s most prominent lobbying firms worked the bill: Aponte Public Affairs, Politicalworks, Colorado Winning Edge, Brandeberry McKenna, 5280 Strategies, Headwaters Strategies, Policy Matters, Hebeler & Hamilton, Hicks and Associates, JLH Consulting, Miles Consulting, Nexus Policy Group, Siegel Public Affairs, the Capstone Group, Capitol Solutions, Weist Capitol Group. It should have been a Goliath-winning moment.

Until Godzilla showed up. Only one entity opposed the bill: Americans for Prosperity, with Michael Fields as lead lobbyist.

Senate leadership sent the bill to the State, Veterans, and Military Affairs Committee. The three Republicans on the “kill” committee stuck a scalpel in it. None risked the wrath of the Koch Brothers, the principals behind Americans for Prosperity.

Sometimes, lobbyists, their clients, and legislators are on the same side, or at least aren’t fighting each other. HB15-1367 puts an initiative on the November ballot to allow the state to retain marijuana taxes, eligible for a TABOR refund, for capital construction for schools and substance-abuse programs, among other things. It might even make retail marijuana free of excise and special sales taxes on Sept. 16.

Denver Health, Colorado Municipal League, Boulder County, Pueblo County, and the League of Women Voters supported the bill. Samantha Walsh, Shawn Coleman, Tyler Henson, and Jerry Braden represented marijuana interests, including Skinny Pineapple, Terrapin Care Station, 36 Solutions, the Colorado Cannabis Chamber of Commerce, and the Marijuana Industry Group. They registered their position as MONITOR.

In this case, the bill passed, so Coloradans can be lobbied on Proposition AA in November. On Election Day, every voter will have the YES/NO power of a state legislator, with lobbyists huddled in a scrum waiting for the tally.

Paula Noonan owns Colorado Capitol Watch, the state’s premier legislature tracking platform.