ED-Central


In This Issue


- Involve Representatives in Local Events
- Establish Citizen Action Task Force




Federal funding can make the difference between a great economic development idea that never happens, and a successful project. Unfortunately, not everyone who has a great idea to help build a better community knows the steps it takes to secure a federal partnership. This articles aims to provide background on the basics for seeking federal support.

Involve Representatives in Local Events

You might not be ready to submit a formal request for federal support to your state or federal representatives, but when you are, you want to be sure it is not the first time they’ve heard from you. Make a habit of inviting your state and federal representatives to local events, especially those having to do with economic and community development. Your representative may not be able to make it but at least he or she will be aware of all the great things happening in your community. And, when the time comes to actually ask for support, you’re that much more likely to get the attention you need.

Establish Citizen Action Task Force

We all know there is far more to do than people to get them done. This is especially true in small communities where it seems the few people who are involved, get strapped with doing every thing for every event. One way to encourage more involvement is to establish a Citizen Action Task Force. Invest local funds to provide training to those who are willing to volunteer their time, pay for their travel to visit similar communities and identify lesson learned to apply at home, and recognize their contributions publicly. When people feel like you’re investing in them, they’re more likely to feel compelled to give back and that is a win for everyone.

Federal funding can make the difference between a great economic development idea that never happens, and a successful project. Unfortunately, not everyone who has a great idea to help build a better community knows the steps it takes to secure a federal partnership. This articles aims to provide background on the basics for seeking federal support.

I went to work on Capitol Hill in 1999 expecting to walk away with a sense of disillusionment and cynicism. Instead, I learned that one person can still make a difference. A community with a good idea can be heard. The only ingredient missing for most people is the knowledge that they can do it. I hope this article can help give deserving communities the tools they need to get Congressional support.

Where to Start

The first step to getting anything done in Washington is to know who to talk to. The right contact can tell you much more than any article, or even volumes of civics books. Start by learning as much as possible about your elected officials. Critical to your success is understanding what they are interested in, so you can frame your project in terms they appreciate. Someone who cares about children with disabilities will be far more interested in a project if you describe how it will make the community more accessible. A history buff might want to know the elements of your project that will restore some national historical treasure. Start by looking up your local Representative, neighboring Representatives, and Senators on www.house.gov and www.senate.gov.

After getting a sense for the Members’ views and priorities, call their office. The local offices can generally help you navigate programs that are already in place. If you have a new proposal that needs special attention as a demonstration project, contact the Washington, DC office and ask to speak with the Legislative Assistant handling rural economic development. It may seem on the surface of things that if you really want to get something done, you should go directly to the Member. The truth, however, is that a good staffer has more time to devote to personally helping you with the process and honing your proposal. But even a staffer has multiple demands on their time and is probably working 70 hours a week. Therefore, it is important that you have a strong proposal with broad community support before getting started.

In making these contacts, be aware of Congressional recesses. During these periods, Members are more likely to be working in the district. This makes district staff busier and DC staff less busy. The hazard for contacting DC staff during recess is that it is the only time of the year that they can take time off, or travel to the district. So do not plan a lobby trip to DC before checking schedules. When Congress is not in recess, it is generally in session from Tuesday through Thursday. This makes Member meetings likelier, but staff meetings harder. It is generally best to contact staff on Monday mornings or Fridays.

You should also examine your representatives’ committee assignments. This should really help shape your proposal. If you have a member on the Appropriations committee, you have a better chance of securing a direct allocation of federal dollars, referred to as an earmark. If you have someone on the House Ways and Means Committee or Finance Committee, you may instead look at tax measures that can benefit your project. If you want funding for a new road, see if they are on Transportation and Infrastructure in the House, or Commerce, Banking, or Finance in the Senate.

While this guide primarily focuses on Appropriations, it should in no way discount the importance of opportunities available to you through the authorizing process. Most federal programs require legislation to reauthorize their existence periodically - usually every four to six years. Some such bills, like the highway bill, include direct earmarks. Not only that, but you can play a bigger role in developing the basic funding formulas for programs. Nearly every committee will have legislation in its jurisdiction that requires reauthorization and has some effect on your community. Generally, you can discover what issues are coming up and read transcripts of congressional hearings on these issues on the committee website.

A Closer Look at the Federal Appropriations Process

A large amount of funding for local economic development comes through the appropriations process. The key to the entire process is patience and persistence. Although this is often viewed as a fast and easy way to procure federal funding, you should still be working on at least a two-year timeline. More often than not, however, Members have requests left over from previous years that they may still be working to fund. Ultimately, it may take a few years to finally secure funding.

Staffers who do appropriations generally start thinking about projects they will be trying to prioritize for the following fiscal year in January. (So, they are thinking about FY 2007 in January of 2006.) This is a very good time for preliminary consultation, because Congress doesn’t generally begin its session until the end of the month. The first Monday in February, the President sends Congress his budget request. This starts the annual spending process.

First, Congress looks at what the Administration says that it needs and then holds hearings to see if they agree. Then, sometime in March, they usually pass their own version of a budget. This is a general outline for how much money Congress can spend on appropriations, new or ongoing mandatory programs, and tax legislation for the rest of the year. About that time, the Appropriations Committee will ask Members for a prioritized list of things they would like to see the bills include. Any proposal not in top shape by March has a slim chance of getting funding in the coming fiscal year.

Throughout the spring and summer, the Appropriations Committee endeavors to pass their spending bills. Though lately, this timeline has been stretched. Both Houses of Congress are supposed to pass all spending bills by October 1, though I have yet to see that actually happen. But usually, they will finish the appropriations process before Christmas.

Then, the bills go to the appropriate agencies to be released. That release can happen at any time over the following fiscal year, depending on how much work the agency might have to do to make sure the funding is actually being spent on an activity authorized by Congress. (Generally, earmarks are included in report language, which some agencies consider less legally binding than bill language. Sometimes, Congress asks an agency to fund something that the agency then argues they have not actually authorized.)

The bottom line is that if you want federal funding, you have to have a proposal ready in January for funding that will not be released for at least a full calendar year.

What Does My Project Need to Get to the Front of the Line?

As a staffer, I had an entire filing cabinet full of requests for funding. Of which, only a handful ever actually received funding, even though many of them had real merit and fully deserved some federal help. The first thing is to go into the process knowing that the odds are not in your favor. I further suspect there will be fewer earmarks available in the near future as a result of the Abramoff and other appropriations scandals.

In evaluating what gets funded, the Member, the Committee, and the ultimate funding agency all have criteria to look for that raise or lower the likelihood of funding the project. One of the most important characteristics of a successful project is broad support for it. You need to demonstrate that the community supports the project, and that you have other partners lined up so that a relatively small amount of federal funding will leverage a large community impact. That involves making sure you include a diverse cross-section of the community. Projects need bipartisan appeal, so you need to show both that the business community supports it, and also that the project will in some way help people of modest means.

You have to take this a step further, as well. Not only do you need to have a number of people requesting a project, but you have to make it clear that they will be there to say thank you when the funding comes through. Just like any other relationship in life, people want to get credit for their work on your behalf. Write a nice letters to them, to the editor of the local paper, and invite them to the grand opening of your project. If they know you truly appreciate their help, you are far more likely to receive additional support in the future.

When you get started, realize that the first person in the office to see your request may take ten such meetings per day. You really need a summary page.

Another thing to keep in mind is that a project in isolation is not as appealing as something that is part of a comprehensive economic development vision for the community. You may have great community support to clean up a brownfield, but another community may be asking to redevelop a brownfield that will be used for a business park where they plan to locate a cluster of innovative bio-based businesses, and they have another developer lined up to place income appropriate housing nearby. Everyone wants to play on the winning team, and showing that a federal contribution will be a catalyst for real community change is much more appealing than working on a highway to nowhere.

Make sure you have a way for staff to contact you, and be willing to be called anytime throughout the night. Very often, they will get to see a copy of a bill to be marked up the next day at 10:00 PM, and will have to answer difficult questions about your project from committee staff late into the night.

You have to also make sure that there is a federal program that authorizes your project. There are few things more disheartening than putting money into a project that the agency ultimately will not fund, especially given the competition for those dollars. You should always start by perusing existing grant programs in the Catalogue of Federal Domestic Assistance at www.cfda.gov. Apply for any grants you can, and that can be the template for a request. However, not all grant programs are earmarked, and not all earmarks come from grant programs.

Generally, the staffer you are working with can make suggestions about how to tailor your project to fit an existing authorization, but it also helps to read Committee and Conference Reports from prior Appropriations bills. These reports can be found by clicking on “Appropriations Bills” at http://thomas.loc.gov. There, you can find a table with rows for each appropriations bill, and columns to show which steps through the process they have passed. Be sure to read the reports, rather than the actual bill language. Find some line items and google the projects to see what they might be using the federal money for. This is really worth the effort, especially when looking for things that have successfully gotten support recently in your state and region.