Lobbying still a focus for Roanoke, Lynchburg and New River Valley in downturn

Roanoke County spent four times as much money on Richmond lobbying efforts in 2009 than in 2008.

County attorney Paul Mahoney said the increase in spending was simply an investment of need, made after the locality found out that the governor planned to reduce funding for a planned regional jail.

That one-time intensity of focus on state politics illustrates an inverse relationship with the recession that many lobbying groups have identified as a driving factor in their spending: Fewer resources means fighting harder for what you've got.

In fact, local lobbying groups say that there's no better time to push lawmakers in Richmond and Washington on key issues than when the economy is down.

"When elected officials respect the role of business and free enterprise in job creation and economic recovery, we can expect the normal business cycle to naturally move between expansion and contraction," Rex Hammond, a registered lobbyist for the Lynchburg Regional Chamber of Commerce and the group's president and CEO, said in an e-mail. "In times like these, business is callously regarded as the 'golden goose' -- and plundering it will diminish its ability to produce jobs and greater prosperity."

Mark Lawrence, the full-time lobbyist for Carilion, said lobbying in a recession is vital for certain health care programs, which typically experience increased enrollment when times are bad.

"A lot of what happens in our industry -- in terms of the state budget, for example -- is driven by the economy and is inversely proportional to where the economy is," Lawrence said. "When the economy is declining or in a recession like it is now, you see the pressure on programs like Medicaid increase dramatically because people are losing their jobs."

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, statewide lobbying activities decreased 25 percent from 2008 to 2009, but those who represent business interests in Southwest and Central Virginia saw a much lower rate of decline.

From May 2008 to April 2009, VPAP reported that lobbyists and their clients spent $19.8 million influencing the state's legislators. In Southwest Virginia, a sample of lobbyists spent a total of about $285,000 that year, which was down about $47,000, or 14 percent, from 2008.

But even those groups who reported spending less on lobbying attributed the change to factors other than the economy.

John Williamson, president and CEO of Roanoke Gas Co., said the firm's decrease in lobbying expenditures was attributed to fewer industry issues in the General Assembly and an improved ability to monitor the session remotely.

In 2008, Roanoke Gas spent $1,497 on lobbying, according to VPAP records. In 2009, it reported a mere $100.

Joyce Waugh, president and CEO of the Roanoke Regional Chamber of Commerce, added that the need to influence legislators doesn't ever ease.

"In tough times, it could be considered even more important. It doesn't go away," Waugh said. "We may look to find more cost-effective ways to do things, yet even that's tough when you're already a lean organization.

"Our members tell us it's one of the most important things we do for them, since they can't be in Richmond and elsewhere for hearings when they're busy running their businesses."

That need was illustrated in mid-January, according to former Roanoker Bud Oakey, who now owns Advantus Strategies, a Richmond-based government affairs firm.

Oakey said there was standing room only at several budget hearings in Richmond -- more people than usual. He added that the economy had a more indirect impact on his business, which shifted focus toward what could he considered recession-proof industries, such as the environment and local government.

On the Web: www.vpap.org