On October 3, 2024, Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway held her second press conference in two weeks to publicly shame our parsimonious legislators at the State Capitol for more state aid. Photo credit: City of Madison.
In the last few weeks, Madison’s mayor has met with fellow Dane County mayors to commiserate about the paltry state aid to local cities. As a follow-up to these meetings, she’s held not one, but two press conferences to publicly call out the parsimonious state legislators. Given this administration’s poor track record lobbying state officials, which was acutely obvious when Act 12 was passed last year, and the city’s referendum to permanently increase the tax levy by $22 million in a few weeks, I'm skeptical about the timing of these events. It feels like voters are being lobbied to approve the property tax referendum, not state legislators for more equitable state aid.
I’m also skeptical because of the mayor’s statement at the most recent press conference, “New legislative maps mean that there may be opportunities to push for change in coming years.” That’s one approach. We should make a commitment to building our lobbying effort now, regardless of what might happen in the next or any future state election. It's fiscally irresponsible not to.
Walking the talk: A Critical Review of the Mayor’s Lobbying Efforts.
To put the Mayor’s recent efforts in perspective, after taking office in 2019, she cut our modest lobbying effort to the bone. Prior to 2019, Madison’s lobbyists spent an average of 480 hours a year lobbying state officials. Under this administration, they’ve averaged just 247 hours a year. And at a critical juncture last year—when Act 12 was being crafted to reshape future state aid to municipalities—our lobbyist spent just four hours communicating with state officials, while Milwaukee’s lobbying team invested 298 hours communicating with them. When the Assembly Committee on Local Government held a hearing on the bill that became Act 12, mayors and administrators from 17 cities across Wisconsin, including Milwaukee, made the trek to the State Capitol to appear. Madison’s mayor, whose office is one block away, was a no show. Actions speak louder than words.
Was the yeoman’s effort of Milwaukee’s lobbying team worth it? Let’s put aside the state’s approval of a temporary local sales tax for Milwaukee—a short-term measure intended to stave off bankruptcy and that eventually expires—Milwaukee secured $407 per capita in state aid with Act 12's passage. That’s double the average for all Wisconsin cities. Meanwhile, Madison received a mere $29 per capita, ranking us second to last among all Wisconsin municipalities. And Milwaukee’s success last year with Act 12 wasn’t an isolated win. Over the last 20 years, their lobbying team has invested more than 2,600 hours a year knocking on doors and building relationships with state officials.
Build a strong foundation: Seven key lobbying strategies this administration must focus on now for long-term success.
What should we do? Based on my experiences working with some of the state’s best lobbyists, there are seven key strategies this administration must focus on now to build a strong foundation for our lobbying efforts and turn this ship around.
1. Get the right people in the right seats on the bus. No pun intended! This is sage advice from Jim Collins, author of Good To Great. As seen with organizations like the Wisconsin Realtors Association, the City of Milwaukee, and other leading lobbying groups, the most effective lobbying is done by staff—not “super star” contract lobbyists. They focus their lobbying effort on just one principal and have more “skin” in the game. We’ll need a core team of about five dedicated staff members, who each spend a percentage of their time on lobbying. It will likely take about three years to assemble the team and ramp up this effort. Team members can be current staff whose job descriptions may evolve over time as the team is assembled. Most of the team should be first and second tier staff, reporting to the Mayor or one step removed. New hires may not even be necessary.
2. Assemble a small advisory group. A maximum of six community leaders with substantial lobbying experience can provide sage counsel to the administration and lobby team to help increase their effectiveness. This small work group should include influential community leaders, particularly highly respected Republicans with gravitas, who can also engage the legislature strategically at key inflection points, and can recruit other community leaders to lend their voices at the most opportune times as part of a larger political action advocacy team.
3. Play the long game. Madison’s current commitment, averaging 247 hours per year from 2019 to mid-2024, pales in comparison to Milwaukee's long-term investment of 2,600 hours per year. It will take a minimum of 2,500 hours per year—perhaps 3,000 or more given the obstacles—sustained over the long term to get results. I recommend walking before we run, and ramping up efforts over the next three years to reach this level.
4. Commit to a realistic, long-term budget. Based on Milwaukee’s commitment and spending, Madison should plan to budget no less than $175,000 annually once the full team is in place in about three years. For the last five years, we’ve spent about $56,000 a year, so this financial commitment is manageable and should yield a significant return on investment. For example, securing state aid on par with other Wisconsin cities would mean an additional $45 million a year for Madison.
5. Don’t put the cart before the horse. The first priority is to get the right people in the right seats on the bus before we worry about the lay of the land at the Capitol and what the best case statement is. The lobby team are the best ones to determine what needs to be done, and how to do it.
6. Use contract lobbyists sparingly and only as a last resort. Contract lobbyists must only be used tactically at key times, if at all. Contract lobbyists are often seen as a “silver bullet,” but that’s not the case unless you truly have an unlimited budget.
7. Stop fixing the blame and start fixing the problem. Rearview mirrors are small for a reason, and, yes, there are a lot of obstacles we need to deal with to get the job done. We need to put on our big boy and big girl pants, get in the game, and do the right things.
If this administration follows these seven strategies, I’m confident we'll be successful lobbying for more equitable state aid and payment for municipal services, and authorization for a regional transit authority and a local sales tax. Time to end the pity party and get to work!
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© Alex Saloutos 2024.