Syracuse University’s lobbying spending dropped to an all-time low in 2018, but university leaders say that number does not indicate a decline in the university’s government involvement.

SU’s lobbying expenditures dropped 96 percent over the last 10 years, from $270,000 in 2008 to $10,000 in 2018, federal records show. The money not spent on lobbying goes into building a team to better reach lawmakers through advocacy, Vice Chancellor for Strategic Initiatives and Innovation Mike Haynie told The Daily Orange.

Advocacy allows SU to engage lawmakers before legislation is drafted, while lobbying argues for a position on a specific piece of legislation, Haynie said. The move away from lobbying toward advocacy marks a shift to a more relationship-driven government approach, he said.

“The more advocacy and lobbying we do, the dollars go down,” Haynie said.

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In 2016, when Haynie was asked by Chancellor Kent Syverud to lead government relations, SU did not have a government relations team and would often outsource lobbying work to outside organizations.

SU also had little to no relationship with any government entities, he said. The university had a strained relationship with former Syracuse Mayor Stephanie Miner’s office, Haynie added, and the university would not contact any federal representatives unless it needed something or if there was an emergency.

Miner’s administration also publicly battled with New York state Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D), leaving SU caught in the middle, Haynie said.

Now, SU has established relationships across local, state and federal administrations. The university’s relationship with the city of Syracuse has “never been stronger,” Haynie said.

SU regularly meets with local officials to discuss permitting, traffic, sewage and more to maintain a mutually beneficial relationship with the city and county, Haynie said.

“We’re able to shortcut what, in the past, would have been a crisis,” he said.

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SU’s government relations team has three prongs: federal government relations, state and local government relations and community relations.

Tim Drumm, hired in 2017, handles all federal advocacy and lobbying work. Cydney Johnson leads SU’s local and state government relations, and Bea González works with the local community.

Drumm and Johnson track government actions daily and determine how they impact SU’s community. The university then makes a decision on how to engage lawmakers on those issues.

“It’s the difference between a jack-of-all-trades model, where you have a team that does everything, versus creating a sort of focused expertise,” Haynie said.

The government relations team, Haynie and several other senior leaders are required to report any and all contacts with government officials, such as who the official is and the nature of their meeting, to SU’s General Counsel’s office. The counsel’s office then classifies that contact as lobbying or not. Daniel French, a former lobbyist for SU, is the university’s general counsel.

Haynie often meets with Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and the university is also in frequent contact with Rep. John Katko’s (R-Camillus) office, Haynie said.

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Though SU now has a stronger relationship with its government representatives, the university will still inevitably disagree with some of those officials’ stances on issues, Haynie said.

“While I say that relationships with these policymakers are important to us, that doesn’t mean at the expense of doing the right thing by the institution,” Haynie said.

SU also sends government briefings to leaders throughout the university regarding legislation, which allows those leaders to reach out to the government relations team if those proposals could affect them. Professors and university experts are recommended by the team to testify before Congress on issues they are experts in.

As the executive director of the Institute for Veterans and Military Families, Haynie himself often testifies before Congress on veterans’ issues.

“Think about what that does for the brand of Syracuse University, when we have SU thought leaders testifying before Congress,” Haynie said.

Published on March 19, 2019 at 11:06 pm

Contact Kennedy: krose100@syr.edu | @KennedyRose001