Houston's lobbying team isn't wowing Austin
Kristen Mack has a story today about the efforts of Houston's lobbying team:
With the session half over and the bill-filing deadline long passed, White and his new in-house lobby team are struggling to get the city's priorities passed, legislators say.
"Under this new administration, so far the city has limped a little bit at the beginning of the session, in understanding how Austin works and traversing that system," said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.
Rep. Gary Elkins, R-Houston, said he was optimistic early on that the city would keep the delegation informed, but that has not materialized.
"I don't know what their priorities are," Elkins said. "Their lobbying team has not informed us of what the issues are."
It's interesting to contrast this with a column Mack wrote back in January, where she reported that the city had retained the services of a 13-member lobbying team for $520,000 +:
Mayor Bill White's administration says it saved money, since lobbying teams in the past have had as many as 18 members and cost $1 million. The 2003 contract was for $840,000.
Whether it's a bargain, though, will depend upon the team's effectiveness in pushing the mayor's agenda, and that could be trying.
Time will soon tell us how that bargain worked out:
Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, said most city issues have not resonated beyond the committee level yet. "April and May will be bigger months for the city," he said.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 03/25/05 03:04 PM | Print |
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