CMU spent $110,805 lobbying Lansing in 2011
Central Michigan University spent $110,805 in 2011 lobbying state legislators and administration officials, according to the Michigan Department of State.
Toby Roth Jr., director of federal programs, and Kathleen Wilbur, vice president of development and external relations, are registered to lobby on CMU’s behalf in Lansing.
“Almost all of the reported $110,805 covers our time spent in Lansing and on campus advocating for CMU programs and state funding support,” Roth said. “Each of us tracks our time lobbying and then divides our salary by the hours spent lobbying to determine the dollar amount we report to the state.”
CMU has also hired the Lansing-based law firm Wiener and Associates to lobby for the university. Roth said $19,200 of the $110,805 went to the firm for the time they spent lobbying on behalf of CMU.
Based on the Department of State’s reports of CMU’s lobbying expenses from 2001-11, the university has spent an average of $84,080 per year on state lobbying. Since 2001, CMU has spent $924,881 in total on state lobbying.
Roth said CMU’s lobbying efforts include successfully fighting to limit reductions in state appropriations for the university’s fiscal year 2011-12 budget, hosting members of the state legislature and administration for tours of campus and meetings with faculty and staff, and working to expand CMU’s Capitol City Intern program.
CMU’s lobbying has also allowed state officials to tour the biological station on Beaver Island and has organized the Posters in the Capitol event in Lansing, which features research posters from undergraduate students.
Gov. Snyder signed legislation in June that provides CMU with $30 million to fund a new biosciences building on campus.
“This is a great example of why CMU’s lobbying efforts in Lansing are important to the CMU community,” Roth said.
CMU does not lobby at the federal level.
In 2011, Michigan’s public universities spent $658,318 on state lobbying. Michigan State University spent the most, $117,346, with CMU ranking second and the University of Michigan ranking third with $106,663. Lake Superior State University spent the least, $8,820.
