CITY OF SAN ANTONIO
GOVERNMENT & PUBLIC AFFAIRS DEPARTMENT
MEMORANDUM
TO: Intergovernmental Relations Committee
FROM: Jeff Coyle, Director of Government & Public Affairs
SUBJECT: Extension of Federal Representation Services agreement with Clark Hill Strasburger, The Normandy Group and Baltazar Serna
DATE: October 9, 2020
Government and Public Affairs will provide a briefing on the execution of an extension of the professional services agreements for federal representation services with Clark Hill Strasburger for a period of up to two years, at an amount of $16,666 per month; The Normandy Group for a period of up to two years, at an amount of $10,000 per month; and Baltazar Serna for a period of up to two years, at an amount of $3,750 per month. The agreement extension commences on January 1, 2021 and ends on or before December 31, 2022.
Background:
The City of San Antonio has retained consultants to represent its interests with the federal government for more than 24 years. The City retains consultants to support and strengthen the City’s advocacy efforts with federal agencies, members of Congress, and the Administration to advance legislation and seek federal funding that is beneficial to the San Antonio community. The City’s federal priorities for each of the two-year Congressional sessions are stated in the Federal Legislative Program developed by the Government and Public Affairs (GPA) Department in collaboration with other City departments and approved by the San Antonio City Council.
On June 20, 2019, City Council approved, through ordinance number 2019-06-20-0554, the execution of a professional services agreement with Clark Hill Strasburger, The Normandy Group and Baltazar Serna for federal representation services through December 31, 2020.
The City’s Federal Legislative Program for the current 116th U.S. Congress includes a number of priorities and initiatives, including military protection, aviation, transportation infrastructure, domestic violence abuse and prevention and housing as priorities. Federal consultants are responsible for supporting and implementing the City’s Federal Legislative Program through the development of strategic action items that include timelines, goals and objectives to advance the City’s priorities.
Since the start of the pandemic, City staff and consultants’ time and effort have been focused on advocating for the city’s needs caused by COVID-19. Beginning in March Congress authorized roughly $3 trillion in coronavirus relief through four legislative packages. Significant work was dedicated to identifying all available sources of funds for the City and the local community in these massive stimulus bills. To date no additional legislation has been agreed to despite widespread acknowledgement that additional financial assistance will be needed to support the private sector and local and state governments. Consultants help to continuously monitor legislative activities, develop strategies to advance the City’s interests, remain in continuous communication with elected officials, staff and government agency representatives, in coordination with government affairs staff.
Advocacy work highlights and accomplishments:
The table below provides an overview of the advocacy and work milestones accomplished in support of the City’s federal legislative priorities and issues. In addition to these milestones, consultants engage and communicate with GPA staff and Capitol Hill offices on a regular basis and perform daily tracking and monitoring of legislative issues and funding opportunities.
|
Timeframe |
Activity |
Action Item |
|
August 2019 |
GPA & Consultants Work Session |
Consultants participated in a two day work session in San Antonio to meet with city departments and community stakeholders to plan for fiscal year 2020 and for the second year of the 116th Congressional session. The city and community’s federal priorities and legislative issues were discussed and action items were identified. |
|
September/October 2019 |
GPA & IGR Council Committee Washington DC Visit |
Consultants assisted to coordinate a Washington DC visit to meet with Congressional Delegation Members and Agencies to advocate for transportation grants, family violence prevention services, military priorities and Migrant Resource Center funding. |
|
October 2019 |
NLC Congressional Senate Briefing |
Consultants assisted with preparation and background materials for Councilmember Sandoval for an NLC sponsored Congressional Briefing on mental health and homelessness. |
|
October 2019 |
Migrant Resource Center Funding |
Consultants assisted with the monitoring and advocacy for the Congressional humanitarian supplemental funding. The bill included additional funds for the emergency food and shelter program (EFSP). Consultants assisted with the preparation of the application. San Antonio successfully received a total of $624,253 via two allocations. |
|
November 2019 |
NLC City Summit Conference |
Local consultant attended conference sessions that aligned with city priorities to support advocacy efforts. |
|
January 2020 |
Pentagon Visit |
Consultants assisted to schedule Pentagon meetings with DoD leadership for Mayor Nirenberg and helped prepare briefing materials in support of JBSA priorities. |
|
January/February 2020 |
SAtoDC 2020 |
Consultants assisted to schedule Delegation and agency meetings to advocate for legislative issues and helped to prepare background information for briefing book. |
|
February 2020 |
FY2021 Appropriations |
Consultants assisted to submit appropriations requests in the House MilCon appropriations bill for the following: a ground based training system simulator for the T-7As ($19.5 million), a basic military training recruit dormitory ($36 million), and a F-16 mission training center for the Air National Guard ($10.8 million). Also submitted was a request that Congress restore the funding that was rescinded for the Camp Bullis dining hall. Clark Hill created the accompanying white papers and submitted the requests to the delegation. |
|
March 2020 |
FY2021 Appropriations |
Consultants assisted to submit an appropriations request in the House Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill that included report language similar to what the City requested directing CDC to prioritize the collection and reporting of data on domestic violence and sexual violence. The Committee also encourages CDC to work with State and local governments, as well as nonprofit organizations, to implement the necessary mechanism for sharing data as well as provide technical assistance when needed to ensure that the data is properly understood and utilized correctly. Additionally, consultants assisted to submit appropriations requests for increased funding levels for the Airport Improvement Program (AIP), Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships and Housing Choice Vouchers |
|
March 2020 |
CDC and DOD Legislative Requests |
Consultants assisted to make requests to the CDC and the Department of Defense related to the Lackland AFB evacuees under the federal coronavirus quarantine. |
|
April 2020 |
CARES Act |
Consultants assisted to advocate for the City’s needs related to the coronavirus pandemic. The City received $270 million in Coronavirus Relief Funding (CRF) and approximately $40 million in aid to the Aviation. The City received an additional $107.3 million in other COVID-19 grant funds. |
|
July 2020 |
UASI Grant |
Consultants assisted to advocate for the 2020 UASI grant application. The City was awarded a $3.5 million grant to support homeland security/anti-terrorism efforts. |
|
May/September 2020 |
-CARES Act funding identification and tracking -Advocacy for State & Local emergency coronavirus funding |
Consultants assisted to identify and track new funding streams funded through the CARES Act. Consultants continue to advocate for additional emergency coronavirus funding for local governments. |
|
On-going |
Grants identification |
Consultants are continuously tracking and identifying federal funding opportunities for the city’s consideration. |