City to beat drums for fed funds

By Nick Georgiou
Staff Reporter

San Marcos February 12, 2008 11:48 am

— The nation’s capital will be abuzz next month with city officials from across the country lobbying their elected representatives for federal and state funds.
It is all part of the National League of Cities 2008 Congressional City Conference, held March 8 to 11 in Washington, D.C., and San Marcos city officials will be right amongst the frenzy.
“Thousands of them come from all over and they’re all up there beating drums and knocking on doors and meeting their respective delegation,” said Bill LaForge, the city’s hired lobbyist in Washington. “We’re going to be in the midst of a firestorm.”
City Council recently prioritized several legislative initiatives to present to elected officials during the trip. The initiatives request funding for:
• Continued improvements to the San Marcos Municipal Airport
• The building of a fire station near the airport
• The first phase of a San Marcos River ecosystem restoration project
• The building of a Post Road/Aquarena Springs railroad overpass
City Council will also write letters expressing support for the Austin/San Antonio commuter rail and an energy and environment efficiency block grant.
It will be the forth year in a row that city officials have attended the conference. 2005 has proved to be the most successful year thus far, when the city got $10 million in federal funding for the Wonder World overpass. The next year didn’t go as well, as $4.5 million earmarked for the airport was killed. The city rebounded in 2007, getting $1.5 million for the airport.
“I think this year will be much like last year,” Mayor Susan Narvaiz said. “I have hopes because they have supported the airport so far and they understand what we’re trying to accomplish. We’ll get some, not all.”
Airport funding will be the number one priority again this year. Narvaiz said the city will request approximately $9 million for improvements to the facility.
The city’s goal is to become a regional airport that attracts commercial flights, but two crucial pieces are missing: a control tower and a fire station near the airport.
The latter project is the city’s second priority, along with a San Marcos River ecosystem restoration project. The last priority will be trying to get funding for the Post Road/Aquarena Springs overpass.
“I’m confident we could get ecosystem monies and I’m just going be really hopeful to get any on the Aquarena overpass,” Narvaiz said.
Since the 1980s, the city has been seeking funding for the railroad overpass, the construction costs of which are estimated at $15.6 million.
LaForge said the question remains as to where funding for the Aquarena overpass could come from – whether it be the annual transportation appropriations bill or the huge highway and transit bill, which comes along every five years. He said Congress is expected to begin authorizing the highway bill next year.
“Dollar levels tend to be much higher in the highway and transit bill and appropriations tend to be lower because it’s an annual cycle and everybody is up there asking for something,” he said.
To help secure funding for legislative initiatives, the city pays LaForge, chair of the Winstead law firm’s government relations practice group, $240,000 a year. So far he has helped with a lobbying process that has netted the city approximately $12 million over the course of three years.
“We can’t make decisions, but we will help them navigate the crazy waters to get there and make sure we touch processes at every stage and try to influence the decision and make it easy for members of Congress to understand the issues,” LaForge said. “In the end, we try to maximize the chance that they’ll say, ‘yes.’”
He said the process entails making appointments with local and state representatives, or their staffers and aides, making brief presentations on why a certain project should be funded and then submitting all the necessary documents to Congress.
“Our job is to get them the audiences they need to properly present before the decision makers the very good and compelling case they have for all these projects,” he said.
Mayor Pro-Tem Daniel Guerrero, who went to the conference in 2006, said having LaForge on board has been integral because he knows “the ins and outs of operating within that machine.”
“He’s consistently there walking us through typical traits and behaviors of different aides and different representatives and how they want to be presented and who wants to receive a lengthy presentation or just bullet points,” Guerrero said.
“You really learn how to use your time wisely in presenting your needs because everyone’s needs, no matter which community you’re coming from, are a priority. You’re just doing your best to making sure you leave a lasting impression on the needs of your community and do follow up.”
If an initiative makes it through the process, it will most likely wind up as an earmark on an appropriations bill. Earmarking is a common, and increasingly scrutinized, method used by congressmen to allocate federal funds to specific projects in their respective state or district.
“It’s a difficult process to have to go through and try and compete, but if it’s the way they do it, I want us to be at the table asking because everybody else is,” Narvaiz said.

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