Administrators Forum

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Government Relations Update

• Administrators Forum
• Ray Martinez, Director of Government Relations
• Oct. 7, 2008

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Government Relations

• Responsibilities
• Identify and prioritize Rices legislative and
  grant objectives and develop and execute
  strategies for achieving them
• Cultivate relationships with state and federal
  decisionmakers
• Inform, advise and deploy Rice leaders and
  faculty
• Arrange visits by government and public officials
• Build a grassroots and grasstops network
• Coordinate with higher education associations and
  institutions

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Government Relations

• Setting Rices agenda
• Conduct Call for Proposals in collaboration
  with vice president for public affairs, vice
  provost for research, deans, department chairs,
  institute and center directors and key faculty
• Funding requests go through an internal review
  and prioritization process President Leebron
  and Provost Levy make final decisions.
• Ensure Rices funding proposals are prepared and
  submitted to congressional delegation by
  deadline.
• Work to achieve priorities.

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Government Relations

• Measures of success
• Measurable increase in grants, special
  appropriations and earmarks
• Improved relationships with key political leaders
• Measurable increase in faculty members invited to
  testify before and advise policymakers

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Getting ready
Major milestones in 2008

• January 2008
• Rice University issues its first formal Call for
  Proposals to deans and faculty for FY 2009
  funding priorities.
• February 2008
• Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment holds
  congressional hearing on Rice campus.
• Final list of Rice FY 2009 funding priorities
  decided by President Leebron and Provost Levy.

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Getting ready
Major milestones in 2008

• March 2008
• Rice formally delivers list of FY 2009 funding
  priorities to Rep. John Culberson, R-Houston, and
  Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas.
• April 2008
• Rice delegation visits Capitol Hill to advocate
  for legislative priorities. Delegation visits
  with Reps. John Culberson, Nick Lampson and Gene
  Green, and with staff for Sens. Kay Bailey
  Hutchison and John Cornyn, House Speaker Nancy
  Pelosi and Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.
• May 2008
• Rice hires new D.C. government affairs firm.

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Getting ready
Major milestones in 2008

• June 2008
• Public Affairs begins regular Government
  Relations update, a weekly e-mail to more than
  100 faculty and staff.
• July 2008
• Rice formally became federal registrant to
  comply with revised federal ethics laws.
• August 2008
• Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst visits Rice.
• September 2008
• Rep. Culberson and Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach,
  commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration,
  tour Rice labs.
• October 2008
• Call for Proposals to deans and faculty for FY
  2010.

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Selection of Federal Government Relations Firm
Government Relations
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Government Relations

• Selection of new federal lobby firm
• Request for Proposals sent to 12 prospective
  firms in February 2008.
• RFP indicated Rice Universitys interest in three
  particular areas (1) demonstrated knowledge and
  contacts with relevant federal agencies (2)
  extensive experience with and knowledge of
  Capitol Hill (3) strong interest in working
  directly with Rice University staff and faculty
  to cultivate greater understanding of federal
  government relations process which could yield
  new opportunities for sponsored research.
• Eleven (11) firms submitted proposals for
  consideration.

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Government Relations

• Overall one-year objectives
• Legislative advocacy
• Strategic relationship-building (Texas
  delegation key congressional members and staff)
• Increased federal funding through specific
  earmark requests
• Leveraging opportunities to increase Rice
  Universitys federal presence and profile (i.e.,
  identifying emerging policy issues and trends
  assist with getting Rice faculty invited for
  congressional testimony and/or agency peer-review
  panels).
• Executive branch advocacy
• Enhance relationships with decision-makers in key
  federal agencies
• Identify additional opportunities for faculty to
  compete for research grant funding.
• Strengthen on-campus buy-in and participation
• Coalition-building

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FY 2009 Federal Funding Priorities
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Rices growth in federal research is strong
relative to peers
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Rices total federal research is well below peers
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If you take out medical schools
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RICE UNIVERSITYSponsored research funding (all
sources)
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Federal earmark priorities for FY 2009

• 1. Collaborative Research Center (CRC)
  Acquisition of life sciences research equipment
  and infrastructure to support medicine
  informatics
• FY09 REQUEST 6 million
• FY08 request 5 million
• FY08 received 359,306
• FY09 potential 400,000
• Sponsors Hutchison / Culberson
• 2. Arm-Chair Quantum Wire
• FY09 REQUEST 5 million
• FY08 request 5 million
• FY08 received 1.6 million
• FY09 appropriated 2.4 million
• Sponsor Culberson

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Federal earmark priorities for FY 2009

• 3. CONTACT (Rice Air Force Training Consortium)
• FY09 REQUEST 5 million
• FY08 request 17.5 million
• FY08 received 2.4 million
• FY09 appropriated 2.4 million
• Sponsor Hinojosa/Hutchison

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Federal Issues in FY 2009
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Federal issues in FY 2009

• Presidential election Distraction
• Higher education is not likely to be a central
  issue, but criticism of tuition and endowments
  continues
• Earmarks Under attack
• A recent Senate vote to eliminate earmarks for
  one year failed by a wide margin, but momentum
  remains to eliminate or reduce pork
• Federal budget
• Congress recently passed a continuing resolution
  to fund domestic agencies through March 2009
  action on appropriations bills could slide even
  further.

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Federal issues in FY 2009

• University endowments and college affordability
• Senate Finance Committee leaders Max Baucus,
  D-Montana, and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, call for
  detailed reports on higher ed finances
  endowments, tuition, student aid.
• Months later, reports still being digested.
• Grassley and Rep. Peter Welch, D-Vermont, held a
  roundtable on the issue last month.
• So far no action to regulate tuitions or impose
  mandatory payouts on endowments, but threat still
  looms.

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Federal issues in FY 2009

• Higher Education Opportunity Act of 2008
• HEOA signed into law Aug. 14, 2008.
• Department of Education holding hearings to
  develop rules for implementation.
• Adds extensive reporting and disclosure
  requirements across a range of activities
  including university finances, textbooks,
  peer-to-peer file sharing and more.
• The DOE will publish annual lists that report
  schools with largest tuition increases beginning
  July 1, 2011.
• Institutions must post college cost calculator
  on Web site.

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State Priorities Update
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2009 state legislative priorities

• Texas Cancer Prevention and Research Institute
  (CPRI)
• 3 billion in funding for cancer research
• Developing Rices proposals (Rice lead Gene
  Levy)
• Malcolm Gillis named vice chair of the CPRI
  governing board
• Severe Storm Prediction, Education and Evacuation
  from Disaster (SSPEED) Center
• Program authorized by Texas Legislature in 2007
• Seeking funding in 2009 (Rice lead Phil Bedient)

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Additional state priorities

• Cross registration for schools in the Gulf Coast
• Consortium(Rice lead Dean Kathleen Matthews)
• Find legislative sponsor to reintroduce the bill
• Secure support from Texas Higher Education
  Coordinating Board
• Right-to-carry arms on college campuses (Rice
  lead Chief Bill Taylor)
• Proposed restructuring of state financial aid
• Total TEG funding for Rice for FY 08-09 was
  2.4 million

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Federal Ethics and Reporting Requirements
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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Passed by Congress on Sept.14, 2007, HLOGA
  strengthens ethics rules for all elected
  officials, political appointees and staff of the
  legislative and executive branches.
• Primarily focuses on institutions and
  corporations that employ a federal lobbyist
• Restricts allowable activities and increases the
  frequency and detail of reporting requirements
• Because Rice employs full-time lobbyist and
  retains the services of a lobbying firm in D.C.,
  it is subject to the new rules
• All Rice employees must comply with HLOGA.

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Covered executive branch official
• The president
• The vice president
• Officers and employees of the executive office of
  the president
• Any official serving in an executive level I
  through V position
• Any member of the uniformed services serving at
  grade 0-7 or above
• Schedule C employees

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Covered legislative branch official
• A member of Congress
• An elected officer of either the House or the
  Senate
• An employee who works for a member, committee,
  leadership staff of either the Senate or House, a
  joint committee of Congress, a working group or
  caucus organized to provide services to members,
  and any other legislative branch employee serving
  in a position described under section 109(13) of
  the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Lobbying disclosure reports Government
  Relations will compile and file all required
  reports on a quarterly basis. The following
  information is needed
• Time spent lobbying a covered official from
  legislative and/or executive branch
• Time spent preparing for lobbying activity (work
  done with the intent that the results will be
  used for lobbying contact)
• All expenditures made with the eventual intent of
  lobbying (travel, meals, entertainment, etc.)
• Exceptions to lobbying activity include
  Testimony given before Congress, divulging
  information expressly requested by Congress or a
  federal agency and preparing information for a
  grant request

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Lobbying disclosure reports EXAMPLE!
• Ray, 
• I met with John Smith who is the legislative
  director for Congressman Benjamin Franklin at 2
  p.m. on Feb. 30, 2009 to discuss a nanoscience
  research initiative at Rice. The meeting with Mr.
  Smith lasted for approximately 20 minutes and I
  shared a presentation with him describing how
  Rice would use earmarked funds to dramatically
  enhance the use of nanotechnology in alternative
  energy solutions. The presentation was prepared
  specifically for my visit to congressional staff
  and agency representatives in Washington, DC and
  I spent approximately two hours preparing the
  presentation.
•  
• At 4 p.m. on Feb. 30, 2009, I met with Dr. Gimme
  Sun, the deputy director of the Department of
  Energy for Solar Energy Systems and used the same
  presentation described above.
•  
• The total cost of my trip to DC was 1,000 for
  airfare, 200 for meals, and 30 for local
  transportation. Approximately, 10 of the time I
  was in DC was spent discussing the nanoscience
  initiative with Mr. Smith and Dr. Sun, so I am
  estimating that I spent 123 on lobbying
  activities. The remainder of my time was spent
  working with collaborators at Georgetown
  University on research.

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Gifts
• Rice University and all of its employees are now
  heavily restricted from providing gifts of any
  kind to any covered employee.
• The 50 dollar or less rule has been removed
  from the books!
• Rice employees should no longer offer anything of
  value to any covered governmental official
  without full reimbursement including, but not
  limited to
• Meals, alcoholic beverages, parking fees, etc.
• Tickets to sporting events or concerts
• Travel or hotel accommodations
• In an attempt to avoid any violation, an employee
  may not use personal funds to pay for any of the
  above items, either.

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS TO THE GIFT RULE
• BUT BE CAREFUL!
• Personal friendship of up to 250Rice employee
  must pay for said gift with own funds and there
  must have be an established history of, not only
  friendship, but mutual gift giving between the
  parties
• Nominal foods at a meetingbagel, coffee, muffin,
  etc.
• An item of nominal valuegreeting card, baseball
  caps and t-shirts (Note these are the only
  items that are permitted under this clause, not
  something of equal value to a t-shirt, but a
  t-shirt only)
• Books or other informational material
• Special plaques or awards
• Meals at special meetings of groups of
  constituents, as long as a lobbyist is not in
  attendance (civic group, student group, etc.)
• Any political donation lawfully made under the
  Federal Election Campaign Act

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Honest Leadership and Open Government Act
(HLOGA)

• Accountability and punishment
• The new rules broaden accountability for ethics
  violations. If a faculty member, administrator,
  or staff person is found in violation of federal
  ethics laws, Rice University is also found in
  violation.
• The punishment for infringements have been
  increased as well, with the maximum civic penalty
  raised to 100,000 and the criminal penalty
  heightened to 5 years in prison.

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Check out our new Web site!Rice University
Government Relationshttp//www.staff.rice.edu/sta
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