Key Points:
Vos has never met with Mayor Rhodes-Conway—and she has never requested a meeting, despite his key role in determining state aid for Madison.
Milwaukee invests heavily in lobbying, consistently spending over 2,600 hours per year at the Capitol, while Madison’s efforts have declined to just 247 hours per year under the current administration.
State aid reflects the lobbying gap—Milwaukee receives $407 per resident, while Madison gets only $29 per resident, one of the lowest amounts in the state.
Madison barely lobbied for Act 12, which reshaped state aid: Milwaukee’s lobbyists spent 298 hours in direct communication with legislators while it was being drafted, while Madison’s spent just 4 hours.
Now the council is set to approve a contract with The Welch Group tonight for $72,000, but there’s no transparency on who will work on Madison’s behalf, how much time they’ll spend, what the city gets for its money, and if it's enough to be successful.
A Clear Disparity in Lobbying and Results
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos is a key player in determining how much state aid Madison receives. But in a recent Isthmus article, Vos made a striking admission: he has never met with Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, nor has she ever requested a meeting. Meanwhile, Vos says he met with the city’s former lobbyist, Nick Zavos, multiple times and sat down with former Mayor Paul Soglin "maybe a dozen times."
This raises an important question: how engaged is Madison’s leadership in lobbying the state?
State aid is critical to keeping Madison’s budget stable, yet history shows that effective lobbying requires direct, persistent engagement. Milwaukee has long demonstrated this—with a dedicated lobbying team spending over 2,600 hours per year for the last 20 years at the Capitol—and has reaped the financial benefits even before Act 12.
Madison, on the other hand, has consistently underinvested in lobbying. Under Mayor Rhodes-Conway, Madison’s lobbying hours have dropped to just 247 per year, and in 2024, the city received only $29 per resident—one of the lowest levels in the state. Before Rhodes-Conway took office in 2019, Madison invested an average of 480 hours per year in lobbying.
The consequences of this approach were clear during negotiations over Act 12 in the first half of 2023, which reshaped how Wisconsin distributes municipal aid:
Milwaukee’s lobbyists spent 298 hours directly engaging lawmakers on the bill.
Madison’s lobbyists spent just 4 hours—and the mayor did not attend a key public hearing.
In a Cap Times article on the city's lobbying, Sam Munger, Rhodes-Conway’s chief of staff, defended the administration’s efforts, claiming that informal discussions with legislators were not reflected in the official lobbying records. He stated that the mayor and her staff had engaged with both Republican and Democratic lawmakers but were not required to register as lobbyists under state law.
However, a response to an open records request found no evidence that staff met with or spoke to Republican lawmakers while Act 12 was being drafted in the first half of 2023.
Is Public Posturing a Substitute for Lobbying?
Madison’s inconsistent approach to lobbying has been a recurring issue. Last fall, just weeks before the property tax referendum, Mayor Rhodes-Conway held two press conferences criticizing Vos and Republican legislators for failing to provide more state aid.
The timing raised questions: Was this a serious lobbying effort, or was it more about influencing voters ahead of the referendum? Publicly chastising Republican lawmakers is not the same as building relationships and negotiating behind the scenes—something Milwaukee leaders have done successfully for years.
Ulrike Dieterle, a candidate for alder in District 5, recently put it bluntly in an interview with WORT:
“There should be – should’ve been, a long time ago – a path, a worn path between Martin Luther King [Boulevard] and the Capitol.”
The Welch Group Contract: A Pig in a Poke?
Now, the Mayor plans to spend $72,000 on The Welch Group, a private lobbying firm. But who will actually work on Madison’s behalf, and how much time will they spend? These details remain unclear. Without transparency and accountability, this could be a pig in a poke.
Last year, the Common Council directed staff to talk to Milwaukee about their lobbying strategy. City of Madison Resolution, Legistar ID No. 83518, states:
"Therefore be it further resolved that representatives of the City continue to speak with representatives of the City of Milwaukee about the strategy and tactics they used to successfully advocate for a sales tax and other relief from the state legislature."
However, the current resolution approving the contract with The Welch Group provides no information on what staff learned from those discussions—or whether they even contacted Milwaukee officials.
A Lack of Oversight and Transparency
Despite the mayor cutting the city's meager lobbying effort to the bone, failing to meet even once with Robin Vos since she took office in 2019, publicly shaming Vos and Republican legislators, and lacking any documented discussions with representatives of Milwaukee, the mayor is now seeking council approval for this contract with no oversight or transparency.
The contract and proposal have not been released for public or council review, and there is no oversight mechanism in place for this critical function. Typically, a proposal like this would include rates for each lobbyist, details on who will be working on the city's account, and how much time they will spend.
Other city functions—including police, fire, finance, water, planning, zoning, and housing—have public committees or commissions overseeing them. Why should lobbying be any different?
This proposal is not much different from what the city has done since 2019—only the faces are changing. For years, Madison has relied on modest, inconsistent lobbying efforts, and this contract doesn’t change that approach. Based on my experience as a long-time member of the Wisconsin Realtors Association Public Policy Committee, which oversees an effective in-house lobbying team, I don’t see how this proposal provides the necessary support to achieve Madison’s legislative objectives. The city isn’t scaling up its lobbying effort—it’s just repackaging the same underwhelming strategy with no guarantees of who is doing the work.
Instead of looking for a contract lobbyist to act as a "white knight," Madison needs to follow Milwaukee’s lead. Milwaukee’s long-term, staff-driven lobbying strategy has proven successful, securing significantly more state aid over time. Milwaukee doesn’t rely on short-term fixes—it invests in consistent, strategic engagement at the Capitol. Madison must stop expecting outside firms to solve its lobbying challenges and instead build the internal capacity needed to be an effective advocate for city priorities.
Furthermore, how far will $72,000 go if the city relies on a contract lobbyist for this work? At an average rate of $200 an hour, that’s just 360 hours. Given the critical issues the city needs to advocate for, that’s not going to get us very far.
A Smarter Approach: Seven Key Strategies
Instead of outsourcing lobbying without a clear strategy, Madison should take a long-term, strategic approach like Milwaukee has. As outlined in a memo to the mayor last fall, the city needs to:
Build an in-house lobbying team with dedicated staff—not just contract lobbyists.
Create an advisory group of experienced community leaders, including Republicans, to increase effectiveness.
Invest in long-term lobbying efforts, ramping up to 2,500+ hours per year over time.
Budget at least $175,000 annually for a serious lobbying operation.
Use contract lobbyists sparingly—not as the primary strategy.
Engage directly with state lawmakers instead of relying on public statements.
Shift from political posturing to real problem-solving at the Capitol.
If the city is serious about increasing state aid, it needs to do the hard work of building relationships and advocating consistently—not just writing a check to a lobbying firm.
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© Alex Saloutos 2025.
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