According to a recent study, colleges nationwide spent $95 million in 2005 to lobby the government, despite increased public concern regarding lobbyists' influence with politicians.
Penn State's Office of Governmental Affairs, which coordinates the university's lobbying activities, has an operating budget of $584,500. Rich DiEugenio, special assistant to the president for governmental affairs, said in an e-mail message that $300,000 could be attributed to actual lobbying expenses.
"We lobby on an entire range of activities," he wrote, "including the Penn State appropriation bill in Harrisburg, federal student aid programs and various federal research programs."
Public universities spent $35.7 million in 2005, with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center topping the list at $1.4 million. The expenditures were 18 percent greater than the previous year.
"Lobbyists have a bad rap with the public," Matthew Woessner, an assistant professor of public policy at Penn State Harrisburg said. "People imagine an army of slick lawyers descending on helpless politicians, convincing them to buy snake oil. Their job really is to present a thoughtful and effective argument as to why their cause is important."
DiEugenio's office keeps in close contact with both state and federal politicians.
"We speak with the Office of Governmental Affairs regularly," Don Houser, chief of staff for state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte, said. "We talk around once a week." Houser also said that representatives from Governmental Affairs visit the senator's office in Harrisburg frequently.
According to the report, lobbying expenditures are typically underreported, as many lobbyists do not meet the minimum working hours to be counted officially. Many universities also have alumni-driven lobbying groups, which draw upon volunteers to call and write to politicians. Penn State's organization, the Penn State Grassroots Network, bills itself as an advocacy group of nearly 39,000 members.
DiEugenio said one of his office's duties is to "prevent harmful legislation from being enacted into law."
"Anything that could have a negative impact on our ability to maintain the quality of our education programs," he said.
The Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency came out as the 17th biggest spender with $570,000 in expenditures. The highest spender overall was Sallie Mae at $1.46 million.
