The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
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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”. 

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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

PHOTO

