Colorado colleges and universities – pitted against each other in the frenzied battle for funding – are spending more than $1.8 million this year to lobby state and federal lawmakers.
The powerhouse is the University of Colorado, which budgeted $799,000.
But the payoff for the largest research university in the state was huge: lobbyists helped secure $16.2 million in federal earmarks, plus millions of dollars from Colorado’s tobacco settlement money for the medical school.
Still, some state lawmakers are fed up with the intensity of the higher-education lobby. New money rolling into the state from budget-reforming Referendum C spurred higher-ed lobbyists to kick their game up a notch last year.
The lobby was so fierce in 2006 that lawmakers on the Joint Budget Committee warned colleges to tone down their tactics.
“The way the system has grown up, we need neutral disarmament,” said Rep. Bernie Buescher, a Grand Junction Democrat who called last year’s higher-ed lobbying “completely unacceptable.”
“There has been way too much money spent on lobbying,” he said. “That money should go into lowering tuition.”
Lawmakers, who joke that every college can produce a spreadsheet showing they are the worst off, are hopeful the new director of the state Department of Higher Education will come up with a new funding formula this summer.
Executive director David Skaggs, a former congressman, is calling colleges together for a summit on the topic.
The current system for doling out higher-education dollars is convoluted and largely arbitrary, forcing schools to compete not only against road and prison money – but against each other.
University of Colorado president Hank Brown, a former state lawmaker and U.S. senator, said the legislature used to give away money based on objective national data regarding faculty workload, enrollment and programs.
With tighter budgets, Colorado hands out money to whomever is in current favor with the higher-education department, he said.
“The quality of the decisions has suffered because of it,” he said.
Educating lawmakers
Colorado used to award money to colleges based on the costs of their programs, but that system disintegrated through years of severe budget cuts.
Most of CU’s lobbying budget – which has increased by about $60,000 in the past five years – goes toward educating lawmakers. They question the university on everything from recruiting practices to tenure.
CU budgeted $382,074 for state lobbying this year and $417,628 for federal efforts.
Brown has breakfast with the budget committee members and totes financial charts about the medical school to Capitol caucus lunches.
CU initiated nine bills this year in Colorado and lobbied on 20 others, including legislation setting up Colorado’s new ethics law and creating a statewide K-12 teacher tracking system.
The university’s top lobbyist, Tanya Kelly-Bowry, focuses on the state budget. CU has another lobbyist fighting for the Health Sciences Center and a third lobbyist on contract.
Some lawmakers, including Sen. Steve Johnson, R-Larimer County, argue that money spent on higher-ed lobbying is a necessity.
“It’s not like they’re using it to take us on trips,” he said. “They are using it to give us information.”
Johnson said he felt ambushed by Colorado State University’s failed last-minute request for a $34 million tuition increase last month, calling it “totally derelict.”
CSU is spending $294,000 on federal lobbying this year and about $110,00 at the state Capitol. In exchange, the university has snagged $6.1 million in federal earmarks and $2.24 million in federal special research projects.
“They’re making sure that we are getting a fair piece of the higher-ed pie,” CSU spokesman Brad Bohlander said. “With our challenging budget situation, it does make it that much more important.”
Smaller schools lobby less
Smaller state colleges, including Adams State in Alamosa and Western State in Gunnison, spend only about $50,000 per year to contract a lobbying firm for the state Capitol.
The community college system, which includes 13 schools, spends about $90,000 on two contract lobbyists, including high-powered and connected Jason Hopfer, who used to work for the Department of Higher Education.
Peter Minahan, one of three Colorado Communiqué firm lobbyists fighting for CSU, called last year’s higher-ed lobbying “high stakes.”
“It was terrible,” he said. “At the end of the session, I was as burned out as I’ve ever been.”
This year, college presidents tried to present a united front. But CU’s successful year, combined with CSU’s budget surprise, still left lobbyists scrambling.
Rep. Alice Madden, D-Boulder, said higher-ed lobbyists have the “hardest job in the building.
“They’ve had to fight for every dollar tooth and nail,” she said. “It’s not a civilized way to go about funding public higher education.”
Staff writer Jennifer Brown can be reached at 303-954-1593 or jenbrown@denverpost.com.
What they spend
Comparing money Colorado colleges put into lobbying efforts in 2007:
School Enrollment Spending
Univ. of Colorado 44,104 $799,702
Colorado State 25,956 $411,000
School of Mines 3,857 $220,000
N. Colorado 10,985 $110,500
Junior colleges 44,619 $90,000
Fort Lewis 3,712 $35,000
Adams State 2,179 $60,000
Mesa State 4,686 $45,500
Metro State 15,087 $72,500
Western State 2,019 $42,000
Sources: The colleges
