CITY OF SAN ANTONIO
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
Interdepartmental Correspondence
TO: Erik Walsh, City Manager
FROM: Jeff Coyle, Director of Government & Public Affairs
COPIES: Audit and Accountability Committee; Ben Gorzell, CPA, Chief Financial Officer; Kevin Barthold, City Auditor; Carlos Contreras, Assistant City Manager; Troy Elliott, CPA, Deputy Chief Financial Officer
SUBJECT: Pre-Solicitation Briefing for State Representation Services
DATE: January 21, 2020
The Government and Public Affairs Department (GPA) will present a pre-solicitation briefing for State Representation Services. This briefing will allow an opportunity for input and direction from committee members.
The pre-solicitation briefing will cover estimated contract value, projected timeline, high profile designation, scope of the project, terms of the contract, proposed scoring criteria, evaluation committee members, project considerations, local preference program applicability, veteran owned small business preference program applicability and SBEDA program requirements.
For almost 40 years, the City of San Antonio has contracted professional services for State Representation to supplement the City’s state legislative advocacy efforts and to advance and protect the City’s interests in Austin, Texas. Challenging budget constraints and the political environment make it imperative for local communities to have strong advocates at the state level. Consultants enhance the City’s ability to communicate with elected officials on the community’s key legislative issues and provide regular interaction with City Council and staff on issues in the City’s State Legislative Program. Finally and most importantly, they provide strategic advice and planning to maximize our community’s efforts to secure passage or funding for the City’s priority initiatives.
The advocacy of the City’s state consultant team during the 2019 Legislative Session was critical to defeating 83 percent of bills the City actively opposed. During the 2017 State Legislative Session and 1st Called Special Session, the state consultant team helped successfully defeat 86 percent of harmful legislation.
In collaboration with the Finance Department and the Small Business Office, GPA will issue a Request for Qualifications (RFQ) in February 2020, which will be specifically for Austin, Texas representation. The Texas Legislature convenes every other year to pass legislation, therefore the selected respondents will fulfill one-year terms to represent and advocate for the City leading up to and during session years. The City reserves the right to engage selected respondents to provide state legislative services during/for non-session years, as determined by the Department Director. Consultants must have an Austin, Texas office from which services will be primarily based. Additionally, the selected respondents must have extensive expertise representing municipalities and/or other local government entities in state legislative, regulatory and government affairs.