The Best People and Places to Lobby: Part V

"Gucci Gulch" describes the corridors outside the House and Senate tax-writing committees in the Longworth and Dirksen buildings. I found other places and people to ply my trade.

The last of my series on the art of lobbying, a misunderstood and much-maligned craft. Access Part IV and links to its predecessors can be found here. Be sure to check “recommended reading” at the end.

We haven’t had a major tax bill emerge from Congress since 2017 - the Tax Cuts and Jobs - and before that, two major bills during the Reagan Administration. The Economic Recovery Tax Act of 1981 is probably the most successful tax bill of the 20th Century, setting the stage for three decades of economic growth (including higher federal revenues despite across-the-board tax cuts.

Not that all these reform bills, including many others, have simplified a code that now extends to about 7,000 words of Title 26 of the US Code, as passed by Congress. But when you add IRS regulations and rules, it jumps to 75,000 pages. There were 4,100 pages in the entire 7-book Harry Potter series.

“Gucci Gulch:” Tax lobbyists and staff jammed the hallways of the Dirksen Senate Office Building outside the offices and hearing room of the Senate Finance Committee in 1986. Photo from Roll Call

The 1986 tax reform bill, about which books have been written, wasn’t quite so heralded. It simplified taxes, treating incomes and capital gains evenly. It lowered the top marginal income tax while increasing the lowest rate to 15 percent. However, intensified lobbying for the bill gave rise to the term “Gucci Gulch,” which describes the congressional hallways filled with lobbyists as the bills were being marked up.

Tax lobbyists are among the most valuable to the business community. Many lobbyists and firms specialize in nothing more. A simple change in the tax code - raising or lowering a rate, or even “first in, first out” (FIFO) inventory cost methods and rules can mean millions of dollars to corporate bottom lines.

I studiously avoided getting involved in too many tax bills. Finding experts in trade associations and elsewhere who helped navigate this minefield was easier. As I said, it’s a lucrative and highly competitive trade requiring arcane knowledge of tax rules that I do not possess. Conversely, I enjoyed working on health care, Social Security reform, and food issues.

Instead, as the lobbyist for a food manufacturer with no Washington office, I found my lobbying sweet spot in our manufacturing plants outside Washington, DC.

When I came to my company, they had employed no other than a contract lobbyist on trade issues for a couple of years. They had no established relationships with elected officials other than what plant managers had with locals. We weren’t involved in industry trade associations that set policy without us. I was starting from scratch. From my days as a Capitol Hill staffer and in the executive branch (US Department of Transportation), I knew who the best lobbyists were and how they operated. I thought of Bryce Harlow (see below). The mission: build trust.

Building trust through relationships

First, it was important to establish relationships before you needed them. I was struck by how many Members of Congress representing my company’s manufacturing operations were happy to meet me (especially when I wasn’t asking for anything more than offering an invitation to a plant tour). Why? We were major employers in their districts, with plants frequently located in rural and sometimes economically challenged areas, such as southeastern North Carolina and the south side of Sacramento, California. These members of Congress, especially in the US House, were eager to establish relationships that hadn’t existed.

In the case of then-Gov.-elect Jon Corzine (D-NJ), the former Goldman Sachs chair invited me to serve on his transition team after his election in 2005 because he feared losing my company to another state, a rumor at the time. Camden, New Jersey, the long-time home of my employer, was one of America’s poorest cities. Losing its last remaining corporate headquarters would be a death blow in a city that had never recovered from the race riots in the early 1970s.

Time Magazine rated Camden, in the 1950s, as America’s “Most Livable City,” with manufacturing plants dotting the Delaware River. Poet Walt Whitman lived here in the 19th Century (you can visit his home and gravesite) and called Camden “A city, invincible.” A half-century later, it was among America’s most dangerous cities. Campbell Soup closed its manufacturing plant there in the late 1980s. Still, it kept its headquarters, a research and development facility on the city’s east side, and generous support for local charities, especially food banks such as the Cathedral Kitchen.

One of my favorite assignments was going to Gov. Corzine to let him know we were looking to cement our presence in Camden and expand with a new building on our campus. I asked what kind of help the state could provide, particularly tax and infrastructure incentives. “Whatever you want,” the governor deadpanned. Those words are always music to a lobbyist’s ears. By 2010, we opened a new $125 million facility and an economic development zone to attract neighbors. Subaru’s North American headquarters arrived shortly thereafter. Camden is slowly but surely on the mend and is a national leader in community policing.

My first mission was to find a quick win for my company. Speaking to one of our food lawyers, I learned of a stalled regulation allowing us to dice beef from its then-origin in Argentina, saving the company considerable dollars and diverting workers from hazardous duty. Working through a Member of Congress on the House Agriculture Committee, we quickly shook the regulation loose. It raised eyebrows from grateful executives who suddenly saw the benefit of a government relations program, earning me valuable internal support.

I invited the helpful Congressman, then-US Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC), to visit the plant in his home district. Watching him interact with workers - his constituents - and learn about the intersection of food regulation and manufacturing, I realized the advantages. Getting an elected official into our facilities in their states and districts for 90 minutes (sometimes longer) was more valuable than 15 minutes with a 24-year-old legislative staffer in a cramped Washington office or hallway (with all due respect).

US Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) samples the day’s production at a Campbell Soup plant in Maxton, NC, in 2015

And I didn’t talk much - our plant managers and their staff did. They, after all, were the experts, and with advanced planning, we worked out key points to make during the visit. Such tours were major productions, but my colleagues loved meeting and informing their elected officials. We duplicated the program in Canada and Australia.

My best lobbyist wasn’t me. It was the staff who not only guided our tours and joined me in briefings with officials but also kept in touch through my “grassroots” program mentioned in Part IV. Employer to Employee engagement works.

I’ve changed votes during plant tours, successfully persuading a Congressperson and Senator to back off support for a harmful labeling law. Ever tried to change someone’s vote, especially after they’ve cosponsored a bill? It may be the toughest challenge in lobbying.

Enhancing trust through information

Another key responsibility of lobbying is the flow of information between my company, elected officials, and regulators. I invited FDA regulators - including the Commissioner - to tour my facilities to help demonstrate how their laws and rules were being carried out and how they could be improved to benefit consumers and industry alike. Many companies cringe at inspectors and government regulators coming into their facilities, but our high level of integrity gave us confidence in such interactions.

But tours alone were never enough. We needed to follow up. We endeavored to become a trusted source of information to lawmakers and regulators. Frequently, I would bring company experts, especially food safety experts and nutritionists, to Washington.

US Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) slices and samples fresh-out-of-the-oven bread at a Pepperidge Farm bakery in his state in 2014.

But it was also a two-way street. I was constantly called up to brief employees and company officials on what was happening with policy, legislation, and regulation. I would turn those into learning sessions for me on ways I could help the company meet its mission to serve our customers, grow our business, and help meet major public policy objectives, whether reducing sodium or food waste.

Lobbying with integrity

As I look back on two decades of my daily calendar and notes, I’ve calculated that about 40 percent of my time was spent building relationships and about 40 percent on managing the flow of information between government, trade associations, and company officials. Roughly 20 percent of my time was spent lobbying in front of (or on the phone to) “covered officials” on issues. The numbers vary year to year, but you get the message. There were about five hours of preparation for every hour of lobbying.

It wasn’t always fun, and there’s a downside to representing a manufacturing company when they decide to close a factory. That’s a process for another post (and one I’d rather forget). Still, I had to carefully time phone calls and communications to notify elected officials that they were losing an employer, why, and what steps we were taking to help outgoing workers.

My best lobbyists were my expert and engaged colleagues at the company. My best lobbying was in manufacturing plants in districts and states where Senators, congressmen, and state officials could rub shoulders with constituents. I enjoyed making it happen.

Are there reforms that could help the profession? Maybe, but the industry doesn’t need more rules and regulations. Instead, it should focus more on educating and mobilizing people in the private sector to become more engaged citizens and cleaning up their ranks so they resemble Bryce Harlow, not Jack Abramoff.

Gucci shoes aren’t required.

EPILOGUE: Recommended reading

My friends and former Capitol Hill colleagues, Mike Johnson and Jerry Climer, are about to publish a new book, “Fixing Congress: Restoring Power to the People.” I’ve known both for several decades, and Mike kindly shared their chapter on lobbying with me as I wrote this series. It is available for pre-order from the usual suspects and will be published on March 19. I’ve already ordered a copy. Mike was the long-time press secretary and chief of staff to House Republican Leader Bob Michel (R-IL). Jerry is the President of the Public Governance Institute, a nonprofit focused on improving Congress. I met him when he was chief of staff to US Rep. Ed Bethune (R-AR) when I arrived at the Capitol during the Late Cretaceous period Carter Administration.

“One of the key problems we've found over many years is the abysmal lack of knowledge and civics education pervasive in society,” Mike told me. “It is preventing citizens from being more engaged in their own governance and fulfilling their responsibilities beyond voting.” Amen. 

To understand how the lobbying industry started, I highly recommend “Bryce Harlow, Mr. Integrity,” by Oklahoma City attorney Bob Burke and Ralph Thompson. Published in 2000, it is more than a biography of the man most credited for building the government relations industry; he also served with distinction for several presidents. A foundation dedicated to his legacy through advancing the integrity of government advocacy continues to thrive. Harlow was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Harlow’s son, Larry, a friend, carried on his legacy as one of Washington's leading and most respected lobbyists.

“Bryce Harlow is a sterling example of the positive side of politics — a life spent reconciling divergent interests, serving high moral principles, and channeling the forces of public policy toward the public good.” — President Ronald Reagan