Ad Hoc Committee approves minutes and recommends two‑year renewals for state and federal lobbying contracts

The Ad Hoc Committee on Legislative Affairs voted unanimously Aug. 5 to approve prior minutes and to advance multi‑year contract renewals for the city’s state and federal lobbying consultants.

At the meeting the committee approved the minutes from the Jan. 15, 2025 meeting. The motion to approve was seconded and the committee chair announced the motion carried unanimously; no roll‑call vote or individual tallies were recorded in the meeting transcript.

Later in the agenda the committee considered the Office of Government Affairs’ request to renew contracts with four state lobbyists for two years with an additional two‑year option. Clifford Sparks and Jake outlined the consultants’ work in Austin and presented a summary of the current terms; staff recommended continuing the existing contractual relationships at the same annual fees. Chair Mendelson noted the per‑resident cost relative to the return of state funding: “If you count up all the dollars spent on state lobbyists, and you divide it by our population, it's less than 30¢ per year per resident,” she said, and the committee moved to recommend the contracts to full council. The motion passed unanimously.

The committee then reviewed federal lobbying contracts for Capitol Edge and Thorn Run Partners and recommended extending each for two years with a two‑year renewal option. Committee members and staff described the federal consultants’ role securing community project funding and navigating federal agencies; staff noted a modest fee increase was proposed this cycle. A motion to forward the federal contracts to full council passed unanimously.

Each of the contract items will be considered by the full city council; the committee’s votes were recommendations only. The transcript records unanimous committee support in each case but does not list individual member votes or roll‑call tallies.