Cedar Rapids shopping for third lobbying firm since 2008 flood

WASHINGTON - Iowa's businesses, hospitals, universities and cities, including Cedar Rapids, have hired lobbyists to help them look out for their interests in Washington. They paid more than $8.4 million for these services last year.

There are questions, though, about whether lobbyists are worth the money.

"There's a belief that the complexity of federal law and the nature of the political process require the hiring of a lobbyist," said Thomas Mann, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, 'but whether that's cost-effective varies. There's a lot of BS involved in lobbying work."

After 2008's devastating floods, the governments of Cedar Rapids and Linn County decided to hire the Washington firm Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal to help them win federal recovery money. According to lobbying disclosure reports, the city and county paid the firm a total of $240,000 for work done in 2008 and 2009.

The lobbyist handling the Cedar Rapids and Linn County accounts was Mary Langowski, a former policy adviser to Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, and to the Iowa Department of Public Health in former Gov. Tom Vilsack's administration. Langowski's expertise is in health care, not disaster recovery, though.

Former Cedar Rapids City Manager Jim Prosser said Jim Murphy, who has been hired by Cedar Rapids to lobby the state government, recommended Sonnenschein, Nath & Rosenthal.

Murphy did not return a call for comment.

City Council member Justin Shields said city officials 'were displeased' with the lobbying firm's results and decided to look for another Washington representative.

"We were hoping for better things," Shields said.

The city hired lobbying firm Alcade & Fay last year, but the council is once again unhappy, Shields said.

Council members hope to interview another Washington powerhouse, William & Jensen, next week.

"We just want to make sure we have the best firm in place," said Mayor Ron Corbett.

The city's top lobbying priority is to persuade the Army Corps of Engineers to provide flood protection for the west bank of the Cedar River as well as its east bank. Federal rules prohibit Corps flood projects from costing more than the property they are protecting - a formula that hampers the city's plans for the west bank.

A major role of the state's congressional delegation is to steer federal funds home, but Shields said Sens. Harkin and Chuck Grassley, a Republican, and Rep. Dave Loebsack, a Democrat, aren't able to persuade enough of their colleagues to approve more disaster aid.

"They just don't have the votes to get things done," he said.

Boone, Waterloo, Sioux City, Bettendorf, Waukee, Des Moines and West Des Moines also have Washington lobbyists.

So do Iowa businesses.

AEGON, for example, employs Davis & Harman to watch legislation concerning disclosure of fees on pension and retirement plans.

Non-profit groups also hire lobbyists. The Figge Art Museum in Davenport hired a Washington lobbyist after talking to representatives of other museums who said it was worth the money.

Dan McNeil, the museum's director of development, said competition for federal grants - especially with a shrinking federal budget - "makes it wise to have someone looking out for you."

The University of Iowa, however, lobbies Wash­ington from home. Derek Willard, the school's associate vice president for research, heads a small lobbying shop on campus with a budget of about $440,000 a year. With the help of Willard's office, the university won about $282 million in federal grants and research dollars last year. It also received about $204 million in federal student aid.

"When that much money is involved, it's really necessary to have a Washington representative," Willard said.

By Ana Radelat, Capitol News Connection