The University System of Georgia and its schools long ago recognized the old adage that it takes money to make money. That’s especially true at the state Capitol.
So, while the University System complains about the impact budget cuts are having on the classroom, it employs the largest and most expensive team of public lobbyists at the Capitol.
An Atlanta Journal-Constitution review of state records shows the system and its 35 colleges had about 20 staffers who lobby at the statehouse this session, excluding visits by college presidents. That team was paid about $2.5 million in 2010.
System officials say none of the meals or gifts they provide lawmakers come out of the taxpayer’s pockets. The schools have fund-raising foundations, and those foundations pay for what lobbyists spend on gifts.
The system says it needs the lobbying muscle at the state Capitol to fight for state funding, provide the system’s point of view on legislation and answer questions from lawmakers about what’s going on at its campuses.
“If we were absent, the reaction would be, ‘where is the university system?’ “ said Tom Daniel, who has been lobbying for the system since the 1980s. “It is not just about the budget, it is not just about legislation, it is about being part of the process.”
In Tuesday's newspaper, the AJC publishes the third in a six-part series on how the university system spends its money. It's a story you'll get only by picking up a copy of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution or logging on to the paper's iPad app. Subscribe today.
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