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Hiring a State Contract Lobbyist
ACID TESTS FOR LOBBYISTS
There are two basic tests I expect every lobbyist I consider to pass with flying colors:
1. Are they a respected professional with successful experience managing problems or opportunities similar to yours?
2. Are they a lobbyist who helps the client contribute to the process?
To pass Test 1, a lobbyist needs direct experience and they should prove that with specifics during the interview. Your success is too important to risk on a lobbyist who's learning on the job.
That experience should involve a lot of winning, too. No one wins every time, but I look for experience taking projects all the way through to the end. Many legislative battles are lost on the last day of session. Competition gets extreme, hours get short, last minute "glitches" arise and only the strongest and best survive. Getting the bill 90% passed — repeatedly — is not sufficient.
The next factor to consider is whether that winning experience was earned doing something similar to my project. There are so many different challenges in state government and they are not interchangeable. A great "bill killer" — a fantastic resource to have, by the way — is simply not my first choice to lead a long-term positioning campaign.
Finally, in order to pass Test 1, a lobbyist must have no substantive ethical violations. While forgiveness is a virtue, it needs to come from someone other than me and you. I am not recommending a felon and you shouldn't accept one, either.
Passing Test 2 (finding lobbyists that help you contribute to the process) is equally important and often ignored. Some government affairs executives who are anxious and inexperienced forget that lobbyists work for them.
Lobbyists are respected messengers — but they work for their clients. Lobbyists must help the client contribute to the process. They must educate the client about the process, place facts and opinions into perspective, present potential courses of action, know who should testify and advise the client about the need for a coalition and/or supportive media or grassroots campaign.
If you ask a lobbyist to just "take care of it" you may find the problem back on your desk bigger and badder than before. And you'll have only yourself to blame for not staying involved and protecting your interests.
The more confident the client, the better the decisions. And better decisions win.
Finally, there is another aspect of educating the client that must be part of this equation and that is the proper role and timing of political or campaign contributions. This is a very sensitive topic and the lobbyist must be capable of helping his or her client engage legally, thoughtfully, respectfully and wisely.
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