Lobbying Lawmakers, Federal Agencies Wins Universities Goodies
By Fredreka Schouten
USA Today
March 8, 2007
WASHINGTON -- Nearly $1 million for a mobile science lab. More than $4.5 million to support military families. About $24 million to improve weather forecasts in war zones.
These are among the federal grants, known as earmarks, that Congress has directed to universities in recent years.
Higher-education institutions spent at least $75 million in 2005 on lobbying to win grants and influence policy, according to a USA TODAY analysis of the lobbying database compiled by the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics.
Earmarks have increased dramatically. A Congresional Research Service study found 15,877 earmarks worth $47.4 billion in 2005 spending bills, up from 4,126 projects costing $23.2 billion in 1994.
The most recent tally by The Chronicle of Higher Education found more than $2 billion in education grants in 2003.
Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., a critic of earmarks, last year asked 113 universities to disclose their earmarks and what they accomplished with the money. Ninety-nine schools responded.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported receiving about $17.7 million since 2001. The UNC grants included $4.8 million for a Citizen Soldier program that provides services to families of deployed Guardsmen and women, along with $2.5 million for the university's planetarium.
Last year, the university spent at least $120,000 to lobby Capitol Hill and federal agencies.
The university also has paid for more than $16,000 worth of travel for members of Congress since 2000, according to the data collected by PoliticalMoneyLine, a non-partisan data-tracking firm.
In November, the university picked up the tab for six congressional aides to visit the campus and see several of the federally funded programs, including the mobile science lab that received a $900,000 grant in fiscal year 2003. The staffers stayed overnight and received free tickets to a UNC-North Carolina State football game.
"You can't take Chapel Hill to Washington," said Karen Regan, the university's interim director of federal affairs. "The university thinks it's a sound investment of its resources for members of staff to see the impact" of grants on the community.
Just 35 miles away from Washington, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore doesn't typically pay for lawmakers or their aides to visit the campus, said Beth Felder, director of federal programs. But the university spent more than $1.3 million on lobbying in 2005. Felder said Johns Hopkins' lobbying focuses on big-picture issues, such as boosting overall research funding.
The university has received earmarks, including $24 million that it shared with the University of Alaska to improve military weather forecasting.
The Democrats who took control of Congress in January have promised to clamp down on earmarks. Democratic leaders recently announced a moratorium on earmarks in the 2007 budget and have pledged to significantly cut earmarks in 2008.
