The Port Authority is poised to hire three firms for lobbying and government relations services on an "as needed" basis for up to $400,000 a year for each of the next three years.

The firms are Ron Klink & Associates, headed by former U.S. Rep. Ron Klink; Greenlee Partners, with offices in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg and Washington, D.C.; and Pittsburgh-based Eckert Seamans, also the authority's long-time general counsel.

The Performance Oversight and Monitoring Committee agreed yesterday to recommend the hirings to the authority's full board at next Friday's monthly meeting.

Chris Hess, assistant general manager for legal and corporate services, said the firms will be engaged in a wider range of responsibilities than lobbying. He said they will consist of "legislative initiatives" and "public relations" at a time when numerous issues at the local, state and federal levels will significantly impact the transit agency.

Among those are federal transportation policy and spending reauthorization laws over the next two years; unsettled "issues" with the state's Act 44 legislation that generates state funds for transit and has enabled the county to adopt the 10 percent drink tax to provide local matching money; and a transit service restructuring plan called "Connect 09" which, once implemented, will significantly impact many bus and trolley riders.

Authority spokeswoman Judi McNeil said the $400,000, a combined total for the three firms, is "a maximum amount, not necessarily what we'll spend."

Meanwhile, another lobbying firm, Klett Rooney Lieber & Schorling, will also be on board. Its contract calls for $200,000 a year through 2009, plus certain expenses, for representing the authority in Washington, D.C. and Harrisburg.

Klett Rooney has been receiving an extra $100,000 a year for state lobbying as well since September 2006, when the authority fired Malady & Wooten, of Philadelphia, for extravagant expenses that were part of wining and dining state officials to curry legislative favor.

Malady & Wooten had billed the Port Authority for $42 for five cookies bearing the message "Thanks a Bunch" and for tickets to a U2 concert, golf outings and alcohol.

The authority has since restricted the type and amount of lobbyist spending and implemented accountability measures to prevent abuse.

Also yesterday, the authority reported that the worm-like machine boring the first of two light-rail tunnels has reached the Downtown side of the Allegheny River.

"We've completed 1,630 feet and we're beyond the edge of the water," project manager Keith Wargo said. About 610 feet remain until the rig reaches a receiving pit excavated below Stanwix Street, between Fort Duquesne Boulevard and Penn Avenue, he said.

Less than a month from now, the tunnel-boring machine will be turned 180 degrees to begin digging a parallel tunnel in the northbound direction.

The two tunnels will connect Downtown with the North Shore as a key component of the 1.2-mile, $435 million light-rail extension.