Lobbying for federal dollar flow to Illinois
LOBBYISTS in Washington normally measure their effectiveness by the amount of federal largesse they can promote. But is doesn't always work that way, according to Paul Simmons, director of the Washington office of the State of Illinois. "We're a lobbying operation," Simmons freely admits. "But with us it's more a question of watching and waiting to see nothing inimical happens to the state" either on Capitol Hill or in executive agencies. The result, he says, is that the Illinois Washington office often expends a lot of effort running just to stay in the same place. But even a treadmill can generate results, and Simmons listed several concrete achievements for Illinois during the past year. "The main thing for us is the flow of federal dollars. We have two people, for instance, concentrating on actions by the Department of Health, Education and Welfare [HEW], They [HEW] provide us with $1 billion, and that's about half of our social service expenditures." As one example of the dangers lurking for Illinois in the federal bureaucracy, Simmons described a recent small-scale HEW decision and its effect upon Illinois. He says his office is now fighting the ruling. "The Social Security Administration [SSA], part of HEW, is trying to have state and local governments forward the cash they receive from withholding part of their workers' paychecks for Social Security. SSA wants it forwarded to them on a monthly basis." At present, Simmons explained, the government bodies send in the cash quarterly. Simmons says this one picayune change "done at the stroke of a pen in Washington" would appear unimportant "except that it will cost our state and local governments $3.5 million" in lost revenue from interest gained on the Social Security money while it awaits transfer to Washington. To Simmons, $3.5 million for Illinois is not peanuts, even in a $1 billion HEW trove. Constant watchfulness of federal bureaucracy is essential, according to Simmons. He claims that Illinois welfare programs are run by three equal powers, two of which can hurt the state's interests. "They're one-third run by the state government .... One-third of them are run by the federal government and one-third are run by the judges." Simmons takes a dim view of judicial intervention in social services programs: "Every time a federal judge hiccups, it costs the state money." But Simmons' office does not simply concentrate its activities on counteracting the sometimes-misplaced notions of Washington bureaucrats. His office also keeps a sharp eye on Capitol Hill, and he works closely with selected members of the Illinois delegation on issues of interest to them. One successful effort on Capitol Hill centered on President Carter's energy plan. The state office worked closely with Sen. Charles H. Percy (R.) as well as several other members of the Illinois congressional delegation and other interested groups. Together, they successfully attached a Percy amendment benefitting the state to Carter's energy tax package. The Percy amendment, still in the conference on Carter's energy bill, would compensate states for lost gasoline tax revenues which the states suffered as a result of federal government measures discouraging gasoline consumption, most notably the 55 miles per hour speed limit on major highways. "The states have lost $2.3 billion in gas tax revenues since the 55 limit came in," Simmons said. "And Carter didn't know it." By 1983, Simmons expects to see $3 billion more of gas tax revenues go down the drain for the same reason. "But we got together with Percy, [Reps.] John Anderson [R., Rockford] and Dan Rostenkowski [D., Chicago] to push the idea. Jim Thompson also thought of it and he came here and pushed it hard. Percy's amendment would restore, from the federal treasury, $1.6 billion in lost state gas tax revenues, and $72 million of it would go to Illinois." Once the Illinois officeholders were in agreement, Simmons said the state office swung into operation, contacting other interested state officials both in Washington and at home. The office also touched bases with various interest groups here which it felt might be sympathetic to the idea. Simmons' aides brought Percy's staff, the interest groups, the state officials, and Gov. Thompson together with Senate Finance Committee chairman Russell Long (D., La.), who is the key man on energy taxes in this town. After listening to the well-orchestrated presentation which Simmons' office organized, and particularly after listening to Thompson — according to Simmons — Long agreed with the idea, and Percy's amendment became part of Carter's energy tax package. Although the Percy amendment may expire with the rest of that tax package, Simmons feels his office performed a valuable service in improving Illinois-Washington relations. The Illinois office arranged a Thompson-Carter meeting on the state's position. "The President acknowledged there is a problem," according to Simmons, and that acknowledgement constitutes a "victory." As for the future, Simmons foresees a continuation of the same activities for the State of Illinois office. He intends to emphasize trade matters in order to enhance Illinois' position as the leading state exporter of both agricultural and manufactured goods. September 1978/ Illinois Issues/35
|
|||||||||||||||
