The frustration that erupted after the ban was negotiated into Obama’s budget deal with Congress is not new for the District, which for years has tried unsuccessfully to gain either statehood or voting representation in Congress. The city — which can’t spend its money without Congress’s say-so — has also sought to win some measure of control over its finances, but only with mixed results.
The District has its share of advocates — Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) has been in the House for 20 years, two shadow senators and a shadow representative also work on the Hill, the grass-roots group DC Vote lobbies lawmakers with some pro bono help from the law and lobbying firm Patton Boggs, and the mayor has a professional government affairs staff. But to some activists, the sum of those efforts isn’t enough.
“Every other issue in this town has a gaggle of lobbyists, has a [political action committee] and is more organized than we are,” said shadow Rep. Mike Panetta (D). “I think we need to step up our game and start behaving like the big corporations, the big trade associations and the big nonprofits that have a sustained, professional presence on the Hill.”
Outside hires
The District pays outside lobbyists, who were hired when Adrian M. Fenty (D) served as mayor, but their work has attracted little notice.
U.S. Senate records show that Mitch Butler — a former Interior Department official in the Bush administration — has lobbied on behalf of the District since October 2009 on “public lands issues” and “land development.” Through the end of 2010, the city paid Butler at least $100,000 for his efforts.
Separately, the D.C. Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning & Economic Development has paid the firm Van Ness Feldman $200,000 since November 2009 for “Anacostia Waterfront Initiative appropriations, St. Elizabeths development matters and federal land transfers,” according to registration forms.
Neither Norton nor Janene D. Jackson, the director of the District’s Office of Policy and Legislative Affairs, was aware the city had lobbyists on the payroll until they were informed by a reporter.
“I’ve never heard from them,” Norton said.
The office of Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) did not respond to requests for details on the work done by the lobbyists. Butler and Van Ness Feldman also did not respond to requests for comment.
The city does not employ any private lobbyists on the issues that have caused the most friction between the city and the federal government: statehood, voting rights, budgetary autonomy, gun-control laws and policy “riders” on issues such as abortion and needle-exchange programs.
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