A 'Little Schmooze' Just Isn't Enough

Politicos with fat wallets and strong livers. Shady figures in three-piece suits, stroking senators in smoke-filled back rooms, paying and drinking their agendas into law.

Such is the stereotype of the Washington lobbyist. But it is a stereotype, observers say, that does not match the rigors and complexities of modern politicking.

A little wheedling might have gone a long way at one time, but no longer, says James R. Collins '72-'73, senior vice president at Washington D.C. lobbying firm Cassidy & Associates.

"That little shmooze at the end of the day is not enough anymore," Collins says.

Collins is what is known in the business as a "hired gun": his firm contracts its services to various institutions and businesses, pleading their causes on Capitol Hill. Currently he lobbies for Boston University, Tufts University and the New England College of Optometry.

On the Hill and in state houses and city halls across the nation, lobbyists, like Collins and his colleagues, are making the case for higher education, fighting for a range of causes from student aid to taxation regulation to research funding.

The Changing Face of Lobbying

According to Collins, new media technology and an increase in public scrutiny have changed the face of lobbying in the past decade, taking it out of the back room and onto the front lines.

"There's a whole process of education that acts as a backdrop to the ultimate act of voting," he says, speaking of those vital Congressional floor votes that decide each issue's outcome.

It is this influencing and "education" that many lobbyists inside and outside university life say is the first step to successfully influencing Congressional policy.

"One of the major problems is that the government seems to view education first as a privilege, and they don't view it in egalitarian terms," says James B. King, Northeastern's senior vice president for government and community affairs.

For example, King says, recent legislation by Gov. William F. Weld '66 will make it difficult for Massachusetts colleges and universities to obtain the scholarship money they need.

"It was viewed as just another expense rather than an investment," King says. "For a number of people, if those monies aren't available, there's just no way for them to get an education."

Lobbyists these days need to play hardball, King says, relying not on flattery, but on convincing testimonials and hard facts. "One of the great myths is that everyone's for sale for a tuna fish sandwich," Northeastern's vice president says.

Also, Collins says, lobbyists have to fight the perception that universities are nothing more than big businesses.

"It ought to be recognized for what it adds to the community," he says. "They are neighbors, not adversaries."

"There are a lot of misperceptions, especially about independent colleges," says Jonathan A. Brown, an executive of the Association of Independent California Colleges and Universities. Brown says that a chief goal of his organization and others like it is to educate politicians about the importance of private higher education.

Taking It to the Hill

So how do lobbyists get their point across?

They must first find out what direction Congress and its members are leaning, says Jane H. Corlette, a director of government relations for Harvard. Then, she says, lobbyists speak with representatives and senators, trying to persuade these officials that their view is the right one.

Universities and educational associations with similar objectives often form coalitions, hoping a united front will better influence senators, representatives and state legislators.

For example, 57 local institutions of higher education, including Harvard, are members of Associated Independent Colleges and Universities of Massachusetts, according to Roger Sullivan, the group's vice president and registered lobbyist.

The Massachusetts Association represents its member institutions on issues that are common to all of them, like loan reauthorizations, scholarship monies and research grants.

"With something that might be a bricks and mortar issue we would take a secondary role, because that would deal with a specific institution," Sullivan says.

Added Pressure

Especially in Massachusetts, where national fiscal problems have hit the hardest, Sullivan says a recessive economy has put added pressure on his organization to secure funding options for its members.

"We've had to step up our efforts and we've also had to be more creative, because there simply is not an expanding pool of money," Sullivan says. "We use anything that we think is going to get us what's right for our students."

At Harvard, lobbyists are working with organizations like the Massachusetts Association and Washington's National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

At the National Association, the higher education agenda is marked by concerns about taxation, student aid, overregulation and science, says Julianne Still Thrift, executive vice president.

Thrift and other lobbyists are seeking to reshape the Higher Education Act, which dictates public policy in that area, including student aid and funding for historically Black colleges, according to Brown at California's Association. The act will come before Congress for reauthorization this year.

In addition, the National Association hopes to remove a clause in the sweeping 1986 tax act that calls for a $150 million cap on tax-exempt financing for private universities' buildings and equipment.

This cap has made it virtually impossible for Harvard to issue tax-exempt bonds to help fund the construction of buildings, according to Harvard's Director for Governmental Relations Nan F. Nixon, who lobbies in Washington.

"What it has done is it has knocked two dozen private institutions out of tax-exempt financing," says Nixon, whose chief areas of concern for Harvard are taxation and student aid. Harvard is "out of the market" and "significantly" over the cap, Nixon adds.

U.S. Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan (D--N.Y.) is the lead sponsor of a bill to remove the provision, and it could be passed this year, Nixon says.

On Their Own

Although cooperation among institutions and organizations of higher education has served to move legislation at the federal level, many private universities strike out on their own to seek federal funding.

These institutions, Boston University among them, prefer to contract directly with a lobbying firm in Washington, hoping to secure funding for specific endeavors and research projects. In this way, some university administrators say, these schools can approach representatives and senators directly, avoiding the competition that usually accompanies the arduous grant proposal process.

Insiders call this "pork barreling," and many at Harvard say they don't like it.

"Pork barrel funding for a project is the worst offense of all," says Harvard's Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs John Shattuck. "Pork barreling circumvents the regular appropriations process...It's quite dangerous."

And Governmental Affairs Director Corlette says, "I think it's a bad precedent. I think it takes money that could be otherwise available for research."

On, On to the State House

For funding, Harvard may look to Washington. But in non-financial concerns, the University usually turns to the State House, Shattuck says.

For example, Shattuck's office cooperates with the state in coordinating the disposal of low-level radiation substances from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals.

But there are financial issues at stake at the state level, too, says Kevin Casey, Harvard's director of state relations. Casey and his associates are fighting to keep the close to $1 million in scholarship money the University currently receives from the state each year. The state would like to give this money to public colleges and universities.

"The state's trying to balance its books, of course," Casey says. But, he adds, "if a scholarship is the bridge to let a student go to a school where they might feel more comfortable, let them make the choice."

The University has recently intensified its interaction with state politicians, Casey says, hoping to get acquainted with those newly elected last November.

"Right now is a unique time for anyone who has to deal with the state legislature," he explains. "Now you just sort of have to reestablish all those contacts. They're trying to figure out where their desks are first, and they have a million people trying to get their ideas through."

According to Casey, it is of paramount importance for lobbyists to establish personal relationships with their contacts in the government so that "when they know they're contemplating something...that might have an impact on you, they'll think to give you a call."

Town-Gown Relations

When a university sits down with city officials, the focus moves toward town-gown issues, such as university expansion and construction, tax disputes and off-campus student housing, according to Tom Keady, director of community relations for North-eastern University.

In Cambridge, Harvard has created a number of groups that bring together University personnel and city municipal and civic representatives, says Marilyn L. O'Connell, co-director of community relations at Harvard.

Harvard is the largest property owner and the biggest employer in the city--a fact O'Connell says can contribute to the "myth" that Harvard is a real estate and business octopus, growing and making deals at the expense of Cambridge's citizens and small property owners.

"It's always an issue in town-gown relationships," she says. "We've tried to be as open as we can about having a dialogue."

O'Connell adds that one of her main functions is to disseminate information to the community about the contributions Harvard has made to the city, including public service programs and youth scholarships.

"There's a lot of misinformation" about the University's true position in the community, O'Connell says, adding some citizens perceive it incorrectly as a big, impersonal corporation. In reality, she says, "A lot of the developments reflect a consensus with the neighborhood."

For example, in November Harvard signed a 10-year agreement with the City Council setting the amount of its annual voluntary in-lieu-of-taxes payments at more than $1 million. This means that instead of paying taxes to the city, the University will pay a flat fee over the next 10 years.

This agreement establishes a framework for cooperation in support for local schools and the creation of affordable housing. In a statement, the University called the pact "the best agreement of its kind in the country."

But according to Phillip Dowds, a director of Cambridge Citizens for a Livable Neighborhood, Harvard acts almost exclusively in its own interest in its negotiations with the community and the services it provides.

Dowds terms the University's civic outreach program a policy of "rural pacification," designed simply to smooth the ruffled feathers of Cambridge citizens. "[Harvard's representatives to the community] are all extremely good at what they do...and they are all extremely determined that what Harvard wants out of the situation will not be denied," he says.

"The real heavy duty lobbying" occurs between the University and the City Council and city manager at the exclusion of the citizenry, Dowds alleges. For example, he says, Harvard has contracted with the city to use public lands for construction project debris behind the community's back.

But Harvard's Co-Director of Community Relations Kevin A. McCluskey '76 counters that at "any university, regardless of where it's located, its neighbors are worried about institutional expansion."

"We have a good relationship with the city," McCluskey adds. "At present there aren't any bones of contention. There's no battle raging at present, but it's something that we're always worried about."

Bok Talk

Above and beyond the efforts of lobbyists, the support of President Derek C. Bok can be critical to garnering the votes needed for a bill to pass, the lobbyists say.

"He's probably one of the most active presidents on the federal level," Shattuck says.

While at Harvard, Bok has served as president of both the American Association of Universities and the American Council on Education. He has also served on the board of directors of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities.

When Bok gets involved in an issue, he usually joins with some other college and university presidents from across the nation to meet with various senators and representatives, says Parker L. Coddington, a director of governmental relations at Harvard.

And at the local level, Shattuck says, Bok knows how to throw a good party. Each year, he wines and dines his favorite local politicians, including Boston Mayor Raymond L. Flynn and the Cambridge City Council.

"I think that when President Bok is involved, it is a big morale booster," Shattuck says. "It tends to signal that higher education is taking these issues very seriously."

Indeed, observers say today's smooth and easygoing lobbyists must roll up their shirt sleeves and take a hardline approach. Given increasingly scarce funding and intensified competition for those dollars, Bok and other university presidents, they say, will have no other choice.