As Missouri legislative session looms, Kansas City still trying to hire a lobbyist
Normally by this time of year, Kansas City’s team of lobbyists would be laying the groundwork to push the city’s agenda in the Missouri General Assembly.
Funding for the Buck O’Neil Bridge, for example. Expanding Medicaid. Staving off efforts to abolish the city’s earnings tax.
But less than a month from the start of the 2020 legislative session, Kansas City has no major lobbying firm in Jefferson City. The contract for the city’s former lobbying firm expired this summer. Officials have been seeking proposals for a replacement and likely won’t choose one till around Christmas.
“I think we need to get a lobbyist pretty darn quick,” said Kevin McManus, the city’s mayor pro tem who previously served in the Missouri House. “But I don’t think we’re in a position now where it’s concerning. I think it’s more important that we get the right team in place and that we have a really clear vision as to what our priorities are.”
Since the beginning of December, legislators have pre-filed more than 600 bills in advance of the session, which starts Jan. 8. McManus said while legislators aren’t taking many votes in the first days of session, it’s important to have a lobbyist there from Day One, building relationships and monitoring legislation that could affect the city. Those matters might include tax revenues, spending on infrastructure or the city’s control over such issues as gun control and minimum wage.
For years, the city has had two lobbying contracts.
It still employs Sam Panettiere Public Affairs, which is based in town and oversees both state and federal affairs and the city’s other lobbyists.
But its contract with Jefferson City powerhouse Gamble & Schlemeier — which has more than 15 lobbyists on its payroll and has represented the city for decades — expired this summer. Newly inaugurated Mayor Quinton Lucas decided to open the contract for competitive bidding. Lucas said he isn’t concerned that the city has yet to select a firm.
“I think first of all our taxpayers can rest assured that the money we’re paying (Panettiere) every week to actually lobby and look out for things and city issues is actually being well spent,” Lucas said in an interview. “So no, I’m not concerned about that at all. I think we want to make sure we get the decision right.”
Choosing a new lobbyist
Councilwoman Teresa Loar, 2nd District at-large, said she was concerned that Kansas City hadn’t selected a replacement for Gamble & Schlemeier, given that lawmakers are already pre-filing bills. Since lobbying firms have until Dec. 16 to submit proposals for a contract, she said the city likely won’t select a lobbyist until the end of the month.
“And then session starts, so I don’t know where this helps Kansas City at all, anywhere, so I have a lot of concerns about this, yes,” Loar said.
Asked if she had shared those concerns with the mayor, she said she is not “talking to him much these days.”
When the city opened bidding for the lobbying contract earlier this year, four firms responded, including Strategic Capitol Consulting. The firm is led by former House Speaker Steven Tilley, who has ties to two controversial projects in Independence that are the subject of interviews by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The Star has learned that the other firms that submitted bids are:
▪ Catalyst, which is led by Danny Pfeifer and works in both Jefferson City and Topeka.
▪ Flotron & McIntosh, which last year pushed a controversial bill that would have given those accused of sexual assault greater power in the Title IX process on college campuses.
▪ The Giddens Group, which is the sole woman-owned firm that bid on the contract. Led by Nancy Giddens, the firm also represents the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Asked to confirm the list of bidders, Lucas said, “I think that’s actually a confidential record.
“But I think you’re not inaccurate in any of the descriptions you’ve had. Whether others have bid is something that actually I’m not aware of now either. There is actually still an open procurement, and so there might be additions to that.”
Seeking more proposals
Last month, city officials interviewed three of the bidders.
Then The Star reported that the FBI was asking about projects tied to Tilley. The next day, Kansas City put its lobbying contract back out for bid, but Lucas said the two events weren’t related.
“I believe that decision was probably made before that,” Lucas said, adding that the city wants to “ensure a fully competitive process.”
“You always want to make sure you have a robust and active process, and I never think there’s any harm in hearing from even more folks.”
Lucas said he was not satisfied with the work the bidders did to include women- and minority-owned lobbying firms as part of their teams.
Within the coming weeks, the City Council is expected to adopt a list of policy priorities to push in Jefferson City and Washington. While it’s typical that the City Council adopts those priorities late in the year, Panettiere asked the council last week to get that finalized sooner rather than later.
“They started pre-filing on Monday,” Panettiere said of state lawmakers. “There’s already 600 bills filed, so time is of the essence.”
