BOG Aims To Limit Lobbying

Earlier this month, a UNC-system Board of Governors committee drew that line -- amending its policy on campus-to-legislature liaisons to limit their time at the N.C. General Assembly.

The revised policy states that liaisons can spend no more than 25 percent of their time on state relations.

Campus liaisons never were intended to do more than support the official lobbying efforts of the system president's office, said J.B. Milliken, UNC-system vice president for public affairs.

"The (UNC-system) president is and has always been the primary representative for the system in legislative affairs," Milliken said.

But that might not have been clear to legislators during this year's session.

Three university representatives -- the system's full-time lobbyist and liaisons from UNC-Chapel Hill and N.C. State University -- often were seen in the legislative halls during budget negotiations, said Senate Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland.

Rand said that legislators didn't mind the three-person presence but that a liaison from every campus might be overkill.

BOG member Jim Phillips, who says he will support the revised policy when it's addressed at the board's November meeting, echoed Rand's sentiment. "What you ended up with were (campus liaisons) who were at the General Assembly full time," he said. "We were headed toward everybody having somebody over there.

"Campuses like Appalachian and UNC-G were starting to say, 'Hey if N.C. State and Chapel Hill can have people there full time, then so should we.'"

Phillips said board members favor strengthening the system's policy on campus liaisons because all universities fare better if the system coordinates its efforts under one principal lobbyist.

"(The policy) is based on the belief that we as (the UNC system) could present a better front and tell a better story if efforts were unified," he said.

The system's official lobbyist, Mark Fleming, also said all system universities are better served if they act in unity.

"If all 16 campuses had someone at the legislature, it could just become unmanageable," said Fleming, UNC-system associate vice president for state governmental affairs. "This (policy) puts the structure there so we can still get the job done and keep legislators happy."

And keeping in legislators' favor will be particularly important during the upcoming session as lawmakers again examine higher education appropriations, Fleming said.

Kevin FitzGerald, UNC-CH's liaison, said he too expects that university representatives will have to battle to preserve campus budgets. "I think it will be as challenging as it has ever been," he said.

FitzGerald said he doesn't mind the combined approach to lobbying because system officials keep UNC-CH's priorities in mind when they head to Raleigh. "All of our most critical priorities are on the Board of Governors' list," he said.

Fleming -- who worked closely with FitzGerald at the legislative building -- said consolidated efforts proved successful this past year, resulting in only a 2.9 percent cut to systemwide funds.

"We had some tremendous victories," he said, adding that he expects similar results this year and will ensure that campus liaisons remain a part of the process.

"We are still going to expect campus representatives to be at the legislature from time to time."

The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu.