The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
News
2 — Wednesday, April 21, 2021
GRACE BEAL/Daily
After my weekly COVID-19 test at the LSA building, I walk back with my camera and take pictures of my free button around campus with hope that the University and the rest of the
country can continue to “Beat Covid”.
The Michigan Daily (ISSN 0745-967) is publishing weekly on Wednesdays for the
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GOVERNMENT
How U-M exerts varying levels of influence
on local, state and national politics
University spent $410,000 lobbying members of Congress in 2020
University of Michigan alum
Ben Keller was a sophomore
interning at the U-M office in
Washington D.C. in the summer
of 2016, responsible for lobbying
members of Congress on policies
largely
pertaining
to
higher
education. According to Keller,
the experience taught him how
much influence large research
universities like the University
hold in impacting policy.
“I think Michigan has a ton
of influence, unique influence,
especially
in
the
federal
policymaking process because
we’re such a large research
institution,”
Keller
said.
“We’re doing a lot of it, we’re so
recognized for it. So we really
hold a lot of sway.”
Keller noted that as a public
institution,
the
University
has to rely greatly on federal
support, and as such must
do everything in its power to
ensure funding remains stable.
For example, much research
funding specifically comes in
the form of the $514 million
the University received in 2020
from the National Institutes of
Health.
“We’re very dependent on
those federal dollars to continue
our research process going,”
Keller said. “There’s every so
often higher education bills that
come through Congress and they
have to get renewed. So we’re
heavily involved in that and
making sure that funding doesn’t
get stripped away.”
As a result, the University
spends large sums of money
each year lobbying members
of
Congress
in
Washington,
D.C., and — as a registered
lobbying entity — must disclose
all lobbying activities. In 2020,
the University spent $410,000
lobbying members of Congress.
According
to
Keller,
this
spending manifested itself in the
activities he was taking part in as
a member of the team at the D.C.
office. Keller recalled examples of
this spending, such as golf outings
with members of other university
government relations offices and
participation in events held by
members of Congress attended by
lobbyists.
“Whenever
a
Congress
member or constituent group was
having any sort of event around
research or change in federal
research priorities or money,
grants, anything like that, we
would want to get involved in it,”
Keller said.
Sarah Niemann, a Public Policy
junior studying education policy,
echoed Keller’s assessment of
public universities’ need to lobby
members of Congress to ensure
funding remains consistent.
“The larger the university
that you are, and the larger the
endowment that you have, the
larger role you are going to play
in D.C. politics,” Niemann said.
“Smaller universities might not
have as large of a role and so large
public universities like Michigan,
as far as my knowledge goes,
would have a larger influence.”
The University’s endowment,
valued
at
approximately
$12
billion dollars, is the pool of
assets given by the University
donors. As of 2019, according to
reports from the U.S. Department
of Education, U-M had the
ninth largest endowment in the
country.
Kristina Ko, the Director of
the University’s D.C. office, said
that recent lobbying efforts by
the University have largely been
based around the Pell Grant
program.
“This
Congress,
U-M
is
advocating
for
the
higher
education
community-wide
request to double the maximum
Pell Grant award,” Ko said.
“Currently, the maximum award
is $6,495. Across all three U-M
campuses, more than 11,600
U-M students benefited from the
Pell Grant in the previous school
year. The Pell Grant is the federal
government’s
foundational
investment in higher education.
However, the share of college
costs covered by a Pell Grant is at
an all-time low.”
Some legislators have come to
depend on funding from colleges
and
universities
seeking
to
influence policy. In the case of
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Mich.,
the University is his largest
campaign donor and a source of
frequent contact on policy and
legislation. In a statement to
The Daily, Peters referenced his
office’s strong relationship with
and support for the University.
“The University of Michigan
is a world class institution and
a major economic driver for our
state,” Peters wrote. “I’m proud
to work with them on issues
that help keep Michigan at the
forefront
of
innovation,
like
autonomous vehicle technology,
expanding STEM and updating
research and science law. Earlier
this year, I worked to secure
COVID relief funding for higher
education
institutions
and
students, and I’ll continue to be
a partner to Michigan schools
as they work to overcome the
impacts of this pandemic.”
State officials have also said
that recent policy, especially
pertaining
to
the
COVID-
19 pandemic, was influenced
by the University — though
not by university government
relations staff, but rather by
the University’s public health
experts.
According
to
Samantha
Kennedy,
the
Deputy
Press
Secretary
for
Gov.
Gretchen
Whitmer, the governor’s office
collaborated with U-M public
health experts on combating the
spread of COVID-19.
“The governor is grateful to
be able to closely consult with
nationally-recognized
public
health experts at the University
of Michigan, as well as other state
universities,” Kennedy said. “This
pandemic has shown us that it is
vital to collaborate with the best
and brightest to ensure that the
most up-to-date information and
practices are at the forefront of
the administration’s efforts to
eliminate COVID-19 once and for
all.”
U-M
Vice
President
for
Government Relations Chris Kolb
also emphasized the frequent
contact occurring between the
University and state government.
“(The government relations
office)
tracks
legislation
of
interest to all state universities
and U-M specifically,” Kolb said.
“In a legislative session, our
office will track nearly 350 bill
proposals and communicate to
university stakeholders to solicit
their views and input.”
On
the
local
level,
the
University’s
contribution
to
policy within the city of Ann
Arbor is far different. In most
regards, the relationship between
the city and University could best
be described as symbiotic, with
minimal intervention of one
entity on another.
According
to
Ann
Arbor
Mayor Christopher Taylor, the
University intervenes minimally
in matters pertaining to the city
of Ann Arbor, and vice versa.
“The University is a great
respecter of role,” Taylor said.
“They don’t get involved in
standard
municipal
matters,
and they look for the same on
the other side for us not to get
involved in standard University
matters. If the University has an
interest in something the city
is doing, adjacent properties,
say or what have you, they’ll
communicate it.”
One reason for this, according
to Taylor, is that legally speaking,
the University is a state entity on
par with the Michigan legislature,
due to its being established by the
state constitution.
“The University has land,
money
and
constitutional
superiority,” Taylor said. “The
University is not obligated to
follow our rules, and so our
choice to zone this, that or the
other thing this way or that
way is not generally of driving
importance
to
them.
The
University is a benevolent actor
in the community, but they act
on their own because they have
the legal right to do it and the
resources to do it.”
However,
this
practice
of
general
non-intervention
is
often not the case with large
universities. In 2017 for instance,
Michigan State University —
with much public criticism —
offered the city of East Lansing
$20 million to not institute
a local income tax. Though
public universities are property
tax-exempt,
an
income
tax
would’ve required MSU to pay
which would be taken out of the
employee payroll.
Taylor said he does not believe
the University would have taken
such actions to infringe on the
jurisdiction of the city of Ann
Arbor, even if it were to consider
a similar policy.
“Michigan State (University)
had a lot of commentary about
whether East Lansing would
institute an income tax,” Taylor
said. “That was something that
they engaged substantially. In
order to have an income tax
in Michigan, a city has to put
that matter up to the voters. So
Michigan State University was
involved in negotiations and
letters back and forth with the
city, but they had a position and
they advocated for that. The
University of Michigan would
never do that.”
The
division
between
the
city of Ann Arbor and U-M also
has limited the city’s ability
to influence the University’s
decisions. In Dec. 2020, after the
University decided to only allow a
small number of students to return
to on-campus housing for the
Winter 2021 semester, Ann Arbor
officials urged administrators to
provide emergency housing for
the city’s homeless population.
Despite Ann Arbor city council
members pressing the University
to agree to the partnership, no
further action was taken by the
University administration.
Though the University may
set a clear policy boundary
between
their
institution
and the city of Ann Arbor,
they hold a significant role in
lobbying at the federal level.
According to Keller, however,
this type of spending is par for
the course in D.C. politics and
manifests itself in the influence
a university has.
“All this stuff just comes
down to relationship building,
and that’s what lobbying is,”
Keller said. “If you’re trying to
influence what’s going on, you’ve
got to have a relationship with
who’s making it happen.”
Daily
Staff
Reporter
Ben
Rosenfeld can be reached at
bbrosenf@umich.edu.
BEN ROSENFELD
Daily Staff Reporter
Design by Brianna Manzor
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