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Michigan government spent $556K to lobby itself
7:34 AM, February 25, 2013 |
/Detroit Free Press
By Kristen M. Daum
Lansing State Journa
Lobbying is normal in the course of public business, but when the government lobbies itself, the practice can involve taxpayer resources used to pursue a political agenda.
Like expanding a state-run district that manages underachieving schools.
Restructuring a major health care insurer.
Or enacting right to work.
A Lansing State Journal analysis showed $556,000 in taxpayer money was used by state government agencies to lobby the Michigan Legislature in 2012.
State officials from various departments said the money equates to staff time spent advancing the interests of those agencies and, more broadly, the policy agenda of Republican Gov. Rick Snyder.
“There’s nothing insidious here. There’s no wining and dining of lawmakers,” Snyder spokesman Kurt Weiss said. “It’s listening to hearings at the Capitol, talking with lawmakers. Every administration has a staff that does that.”
The half-million dollars reportedly spent on lobbying by state departments last year is the highest figure reported since 2001, the earliest year for which reports are available online through the secretary of state’s office.
Over the past 12 years, total reported lobbying expenses from state agencies have been as little as $190,700 in 2003 to as high as $486,600 in 2008.
Both of those years fell under the administration of Democratic Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who preceded Snyder.
The $556,000 spent in 2012 represents a tiny sliver — 1.5% — of the $36.6 million spent overall on lobbying in Michigan last year.
By comparison, 93% of that total was reported by special interest groups, companies and public relations firms, whose purpose is to influence public policy.
The wide margin between private-sector and government lobbying is consistent with any given year since 2001, according to the LSJ analysis. What it means
The letter of the law defines lobbying as “spending money in an attempt to influence” lawmakers or certain state administrators and elected officials.
For governments, ranging from the township level to the state level, that definition applies to any government relations staff they have on the payroll: People whose sole job is to monitor legislation, meet with lawmakers and testify at the Capitol.
However, given the word’s connotation, many officials are reluctant to call those staffers “lobbyists.”
“We’re more of a resource for the Legislature, and the executive office also, in providing detail, specific background and expertise they may need,” said Martin Ackley, the Michigan Department of Education’s director of governmental affairs.
The salaries of legislative liaisons or government affairs aides come out of departmental budgets, which makes the state’s lobbying practices a taxpayer expense. Theoretical dollars
But the dollars are more theoretical than concrete.
State officials, like Weiss, said the amounts their departments reported as lobbying expenses reflect “our best, good-faith estimate to the amount of time” legislative liaisons spend working directly with lawmakers.
For instance, Snyder’s executive office reported $96,000 on lobbying expenses in each of 2011 and 2012.
Weiss said that figure reflects a portion of the salaries for Sally Durfee and Darin Ackerman, Snyder’s deputy directors of legislative affairs.
Durfee and Ackerman monitor bills as they move through the House and Senate and work with lawmakers to advance Snyder’s priorities, Weiss said. That can involve a range of topics, depending on the debate before the Legislature or the time of year.
“Just look at the lame-duck session (in December): It was anything from gun legislation, to Blue Cross Blue Shield or right to work,” Weiss said.
“There were a number of major issues where legislators had questions or concerns.”
Lobbying for EAA
The state’s lobbying efforts last year included advancing a controversial K-12 education proposal that could allow the state to take over Michigan’s most underperforming schools, including some in Lansing.
The Education Achievement Authority is a state entity but, so far, its oversight is restricted to 15 subpar schools in Detroit. Snyder and other Republicans sought to expand the EAA’s authority last year to give it a statewide reach.
Democrats and several school associations opposed such an expansion, and the original bills died without a floor vote at the end of the 2012 session. However, legislation is likely to be re-introduced this spring.
Behind the scenes of last year’s debate, the EAA retained a Lansing-based firm to lobby on its behalf, which included asking lawmakers to approve the controversial expansion.
In a report filed with the secretary of state, the EAA reported $35,000 in lobbying expenses for 2012 — more than several traditional state departments reported last year, the LSJ’s analysis showed.
Chancellor John Covington said the EAA’s lobbying dollars last year were spent working with lawmakers to revise the legislation that would have codified the expansion.
“We worked with the governor's office and the K-12 organizations to delete and or re-write substantial portions of the bill, which now enjoys broader support, and which we hope will move forward in the first half of 2013,” Covington said in a statement to the State Journal.
He said the cost of retaining a professional lobbyist was covered, in part, by a $12,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which was awarded last summer. |
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