But that isn't exactly true. The rooms actually facing each other are the House and Senate lobbies. On days when the House and Senate are in session, those lobbies are crowded with - who else? - lobbyists. Lots of them.

More than 300 lobbyists are registered with the Ethics Commission, or roughly two for every state lawmaker. Telecommunications giant AT&T has 16. The State Chamber of Commerce has 10. So does the Tarrant Regional Water District in Texas, which is trying to work out a deal to buy water from Oklahoma.

At last count, those 300 lobbyists serve nearly 700 clients, from Big Tobacco and Big Oil to the Beavers Bend Lodging Association and Citizens for the Protection of the Arbuckle Simpson Aquifer. Health care interests are by far the most represented sector. Almost 100 health care-related entities, from doctors to nurses to pharmaceutical companies, have lobbyists at the state Capitol. That's about twice as many as the financial sector, which is next on the list.

Lobbyists are often perceived as shadowy characters with bags of cash and unlimited expense accounts. And, even at the state level, they contribute millions of dollars to Oklahoma political campaigns and organizations. Just how much is difficult to determine, largely because lobbyists are frequently not identified as such in Ethics Commission financial reports.