LINCOLN, Neb.—Dozens of lobbyists already prowl the Nebraska Capitol trying to sway lawmakers, so cracking into the business of political persuasion can be tough.
But Angela Amack has found a niche—local governments—and statistics suggest business will grow.
An Associated Press review of recently released lobbying reports shows that 37 public entities—among them school and utility districts, county and city governments—spent nearly $1.3 million on lobbyists last year. That’s nearly twice what was spent in 2000 by public entities that rely on tax dollars and fees.
Since Columbus Public Schools signed Amack on this year, schools make up half of her client list. She’s also the lobbyist for Grand Island Public Schools.
“They can’t monitor things from so many miles away,” Amack said when asked why she is needed by the schools.
But the amounts that public entities are now spending on lobbyists leave some lawmakers reeling.
“That shocks me,” said Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln when told that $1.3 million was spent last year.
“In principle, I have no problem with public bodies spending money on lobbyists. If the people of Lincoln choose to hire their own lobbyists, that’s their own choice if it occurs through the proper channels of government. But here’s the concern: I wonder if people know how much their public bodies are spending on lobbyists.”
The total amount spent on lobbyists by school districts and other public entities has far outpaced the rate of inflation.
Thirty public bodies spent a total of $669,000 on lobbyists in 2000. That equals about $836,450 in 2008 dollars—far below the nearly $1.3 million that was actually spent.
And the spending is expected to continue to increase. There are three more public entities with lobbyists this year than last year.
The chairman of a conservative government watchdog group called the practice “lobbyists lobbying against taxpayers.”
“Using local dollars to pay lobbyists so school districts can get more dollars from local taxpayers and more dollars from state taxpayers is wrong,” said Doug Kagan, chairman of Nebraska Taxpayers for Freedom. The group researches how much taxing entities in Douglas and Sarpy counties spend on lobbyists, and Kagan said the amount has been increasing.
“Board members can do their own lobbying,” he said of school boards, county boards and other governments.
The biggest combined spender on lobbyists last year was Lincoln, although its local government headquarters are just a short drive from the state Capitol.
Last year, Lincoln taxpayers spent more than $84,800 for two firms to lobby for city government, the most of any city government in the state. Among school districts, Lincoln was also tops in spending—more than $79,900 last year.
Omaha city government, even though it is 50 miles away and much larger than Lincoln, spent about $53,630 on lobbying. Omaha Public Schools was a close second to Lincoln schools, spending a little more than $79,000.
The single biggest spender on lobbying last year was the University of Nebraska, which spent more than $100,100.
Lincoln has had a full-time employee whose duties include lobbying for years, the school superintendent explained.
“The (school) board and the community understand that being the capital city school district carries some responsibility,” said Lincoln Public Schools Superintendent Susan Gourley.
Asked how a lobbyist is helping the Lincoln school district and other districts this year, Gourley mentioned a bill (LB64) that would require schools to teach students about dating violence.
Besides the full-time employee who spends time lobbying, the district retains Walt Radcliffe, one of the most experienced lobbyists in the Capitol.
Of public entities that hire lobbyists, the fastest-growing segment is schools.
In 2000, just four school districts hired their own lobbyists. This year, 15 districts have hired lobbyists, up from 13 last year.
“There’s more rules, more regulations, more laws on what schools will be held responsible for,” said Alan Katzberg, executive director and lobbyist for the Nebraska Rural Community School Association. “There’s been an erosion of local control of schools and more direction from the Legislature … so schools have increased their presence” at the Capitol.
Other school officials mentioned the need to make sure they aren’t losers when changes are made to the complicated state-aid formula that determines how much money school districts get from the state.
Papillion-La Vista Public Schools didn’t have a lobbyist last year but decided to get one this year after changes to the formula resulted in a $3.45 million reduction in state aid for the district, said district spokeswoman Annette Eyman.
The district has budgeted about $20,000 to hire a lobbyist this year. An assistant superintendent who retired last year got the job.
Lexington Public Schools Superintendent Todd Chessmore and his board decided it was time to hire a lobbyist this year for the first time after driving to Lincoln several times last year to track what was going on.
The district didn’t lose by not having someone there full-time: Chessmore said it ended up getting a “windfall” of $1.7 million more than the previous year in state aid. But he realized that every move on the education front affects the district, and “somebody just has to be down there.”
“Some people would say that’s the job of a superintendent, that I should be down there,” Chessmore said. That would be hard to do and at the same time fulfill his duties in Lexington, he said.
“There’s a feeling it’s changed so much—good, bad or indifferent—we felt we needed to have someone there,” Chessmore said.
The district hired former state Sen. Curt Bromm, who became a lobbyist after leaving office. It has budgeted about $15,000 for Bromm this year.
While the amount of taxpayer dollars has risen sharply the last several years, the private sector still is far and away the biggest spender on lobbyists. The $1.3 million public bodies spent last year is about 10 percent of all money spent on lobbyists.
Do public entities deserve a chance to fight for state dollars?
“Probably,” said Sen. Kent Rogert of Tekamah. “But people are paying for that with tax dollars.”
The lobbyists in his district are the old-fashioned sort, he said—principals, teachers and superintendents—and “I can expect 10 e-mails anytime a school bill comes up.”
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