Lobbyists eye funding slice for Nevada

Benjamin Grove

Friday, Jan. 3, 2003 | 11:14 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada, Clark County and the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson are paying their lobbyists in Congress more than $1 million this year.

Lawmakers return for the new session Tuesday, and Nevada officials are dispatching their hired guns to Capitol Hill to secure more Medicaid money for the state, keep tabs on unfunded mandates and negotiate land deals, among other jobs.

Lobbyists this year say they have their work cut out for them as both federal and state coffers are draining into deficit spending.

Perhaps the bloodiest battles could come during a showdown over highway funds, said Nevada lobbyist Mike Pieper.

Lawmakers are expected to resume a highway money battle that began last year amid a larger budget impasse. For now Nevada is slated to receive $199.5 million for highway projects in the 2003 fiscal year, which began Oct. 1.

Nevada lobbyists intend to keep a close eye on this year's money, but they also have their eye on a bigger prize.

As lawmakers this year prepare to wade into a broad debate over the funding formula used to calculate highway spending in each state, Nevada lobbyists have a bold request: a 50 percent increase in federal highway money over five years, Pieper said.

Nevada's Transportation Department needs much more money from Congress in each of the next five years -- up to $300 million by fiscal year 2008 -- for projects including ongoing work on the Las Vegas Beltway, the Hoover Dam bypass bridge and an interstate highway between Reno and Carson City, Pieper said.

Pieper said Nevada is entitled to a bigger slice of the federal transportation funding pie. According to a funding formula, the state is guaranteed at least 0.72 percent of the nation's highway money, but deserves at least 0.9 percent, Pieper said.

"Our population over the last 10 years has grown dramatically, so we're prepared to argue that we should get a larger minimum guarantee," Pieper said.

Nevada lawmakers and its lobbyists often sing the growth refrain. Congress does not funnel enough welfare or Medicaid money to Nevada, either, Pieper said.

States and the federal government split the cost of Medicaid, the nation's health care insurance program for low-income residents. It's the largest federally funded program in Nevada, Pieper said. But the state has struggled to meet its obligations in recent months as Nevada's Medicaid enrollment rises faster than anticipated and federal money has not kept pace, leaving the state with a $121 million shortfall, Pieper said.

"The state doesn't have a choice -- we have to cover people who qualify and we have to pay half of it," Pieper said.

Pieper also intends to lobby for welfare funding boosts. The number of Nevadans on welfare has slightly declined in five of the last six months, with about 31,000 receiving assistance in November. But that's still about 5,000 more people than in November 2001 and about 10,000 higher than pre-Sept. 11, 2001 levels.

Federal formulas for doling out Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, or TANF -- welfare money -- have not kept pace with Nevada's surging population, Pieper said.

Pieper, 40, a former staffer for retired Rep. Barbara Vucanovich, R-Nev., is Gov. Kenny Guinn's point man in Washington. He does much of his work behind the scenes, keeping tabs on issues through congressional committee staffers and other sources. Nevada will pay Pieper $259,000 to run his two-person office.

The Clark County Commission has not yet formulated its goals for its lobbyist in Washington, Marcus Faust, said Clark County intergovernmental relations manager Dan Musgrove. Faust has a three-year contract with the county that ends in June worth about $242,000. The county also paid lobby firm Cassidy & Associates $60,000 to lobby against Yucca Mountain, although that contract ends in February.

Faust also will lobby for several Clark County government agencies this year: the airport, which is paying him $74,160; the sanitation district ($36,000); and the Regional Transportation Commission ($60,000).

"He's been doing this so long, he knows exactly what's available and what our goals are," Musgrove said.

The city of Las Vegas will spend nearly that much on two lobby firms. It budgeted $11,500 a month this year to pay Ball Janik, LLP, to fight for more federal dollars for the city.

The city also will pay Nevada-based Lionel, Sawyer & Collins $7,000 a month, primarily for the legislative muscle of former Democratic Sen. Richard Bryan and Washington-based Key Reid, the son of Minority Whip Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev.

The two will lead efforts this year to lobby on public lands issues and be a voice for the city in its bid to develop of 61 vacant acres downtown. The firm likely will lobby Congress and the Veterans Affairs Department to consider building a veterans clinic or hospital on the site, sources said.

Reid and Bryan declined to discuss details of their developing lobbying strategies, citing attorney-client rules, but city officials offered a preview.

Key Reid and Bryan also likely will help the city maneuver to obtain about 45 acres at the corner of Alta Drive and Hualapai Way. The land is technically owned by the Bureau of Land Management but is leased to the city, and city leaders would like obtain the land outright, possibly for use as a park, assistant city manager Betsy Fretwell said.

Key Reid also represents the city of North Las Vegas, which is paying Lionel Sawyer $10,000 a month. City manager Kurt Fritsch said Reid's marching orders for this year include applying continued pressure on lawmakers to pay for Interstate 15 corridor improvements. The city also asked Reid to help squeeze Congress for money for a wastewater study, and to keep tabs on unfunded homeland security mandates that may cost the city.

North Las Vegas also wants to goad Congress and the Bureau of Land Management into a proposed deal that would ultimately secure the privately owned Craig Ranch Golf Course as a park for the city. Golf course owner Donald Nelson wants to give the 130-acre course to the city in exchange for BLM land north of the Las Vegas beltway route, but the BLM has not not approved the deal.

In Henderson, city leaders plan to meet early next week with Washington-area lobbyist Barbara McCall to talk over the city's legislative goals. Henderson will pay McCall nearly $49,000 this year. Mayor Jim Gibson was unavailable for comment.