As lawmakers started the spring legislative session Tuesday, they were joined by lobbyists from around the state, including about six of UF's own lobbyists.]
Those six are part of a team of 11 lobbyists employed by UF on the federal and state level to help shore up funds for research projects and other causes near and dear to the university.
On the federal side of things, UF was one of almost 300 colleges, universities and other educational groups in 2008 that spent over $100 million on federal lobbying for the first time since the Center for Responsive Politics began compiling numbers in 1998. In 2008, UF used BGR Group, the same lobbying group as Abercrombie & Fitch, Lockheed Martin and Pfizer, according to the center
From 1998 to 2008, UF's federal lobbying expenses climbed from $80,000 a year to $240,000, hitting a peak of $300,000 in 2005, according to the center's database on opensecrets.org.Those numbers don't tell the whole story, though.
UF will also spend almost $334,000 in the current fiscal year lobbying on the state level, and UF's Student Government will spend almost $113,000 lobbying on the state and local level.
All that money pays for the services of about 11 lobbyists, two on the federal level and nine on the state level.
The UF Foundation, which handles UF's donations, pays for six of those lobbyists and the costs to maintain an office in Tallahassee, with private money.
The money for three of the lobbyists comes out of UF's budget and the two SG lobbyists are paid for through student fees.
UF colleges and administrative units may also incur some lobbying expenses when they send faculty or administrators to Washington or Tallahassee to talk with lawmakers. Sometimes a college, like the College of Medicine, may even pay to send students to a rally.
Those funds, if they are spent, may come from various places like travel expense accounts or external affairs budgets, according to information from UF officials.
It's not clear how much those costs might add up to in a single year.
Jane Adams, UF's vice president of university relations, said UF's lobbying costs may seem like a lot, especially in tough budget times, but she argued UF would be in much worse shape without its lobbyists.
On the federal level, for example, Adams said UF's lobbyists helped secure about $23 million in earmarks for research last fiscal year.
The projects that were funded range from termite research to research on renewable energy.
The project that saw the most money, $7.1 million, was for tropical and subtropical agriculture research, or T-Star, which includes research on reducing and eliminating invasive species.
"As you can see," Adams said, "a $240,000 annual fee versus last year they helped us get $23 million. That's an excellent return on investment."
For the current fiscal year, she said UF knows of at least $15.5 million in earmarks, though it is still combing through the recently passed federal budget for 2008-2009 for other projects that got funding.
As was the case last year, T-Star got the biggest share of federal money, about $6.7 million, according to the most recent information.
But $15.5 million is only a fraction of what UF actually requested from Washington this fiscal year.
UF actually lobbied for about $79 million for projects. Adams said that's more of a wish list.
"We don't expect to get anywhere near all of these proposals funded," she said. "We have a long list of projects to let members of Congress pick which ones appeal to them."
That list is culled from an even longer list of research projects presented to administrators by UF's faculty. A panel of vice presidents determines which of those make the cut and are included in the final request.
Adams said UF's lobbyists have been especially important this year, with government funds scarce during the state and federal budget crises.
"We have to be very studious; we have to be very careful," she said. "We have to look for any opportunity we possibly can in order to get money in these times."
There are many sources of funding that can be tapped for various projects, she said, but sometimes the trick is knowing where to look.
The recently passed economic stimulus package also put UF's lobbyists to the test this year, she said.
She said one of the most important things they helped accomplish was to make sure Florida wasn't excluded from education funding because of recent budget cuts.
Some funds in the stimulus are contingent upon prior spending levels but, with universities slashing their budgets in recent years, they may not have been eligible for these funds.
Luckily for UF, she said, a waiver was placed into the bill which allows U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to exempt specific states from the spending requirements.
Gov. Charlie Crist recently sent a letter to Duncan asking that Florida be given that exemption, she said.
As for how UF's federal lobbying expenses compare to other universities in Florida, UF ranks fourth. However, the reliability of the data was called into question when it was revealed that FSU, which, according to opensecrets.org, spent $520,000 in 2008, actually spent about $62,000, according to Ray Bye, FSU's director of federal relations and economic development at FSU.
It appears the database added the salary of the State University System's lobbyist onto FSU's list of lobbying expenses when, in fact, that lobbyist is paid directly from state funds.
According to the database, UF also lagged behind the University of South Florida, which spent $280,000 and Florida International University, which spent $351,000.
Adams said the budget crunch has caused UF to reduce its lobbying costs this year. On the state level, UF is slated to spend about $100,000 less this year and the federal lobbying contract is up for renewal, which means UF will be shopping around for a better deal, though she said UF probably won't end up paying less.
She said she's OK with that, though, considering the amount of money UF's lobbyists bring in.
"I'm satisfied with where we are," she said.
