GE Energy
Robert Hall III
Executive
Counsel
Where Do Lobbyists Come From?
 1st Amendment to the
Constitution
 5 Guaranteed Rights:
•Religion
•Speech
•Press
•Assembly
•Right to petition
2
Who Are Lobbyists?
12,500 are registered lobbyists before the
Federal government and thousands of
others at the state and local levels.
3
Definition of Lobbying and Lobbyist
Lobbying: 1. to promote or secure the passage of (legislation)
by influencing public officials; 2. to attempt to influence (a
public official) toward a desired action (Merriam-Webster)
Lobbyist: “Any individual who is either employed or retained
by a client for financial or other compensation whose services
include more than one lobbying
contract; and whose lobbying
activities constitute 20% or
more of his or her services’ time
on behalf of that client during
any three-month period (LDA)
4
Public Affairs/Government Relations
What is it?
Public Affairs is “the management function responsible for
monitoring and managing a corporation’s external
environment.”
It always includes government relations, and sometimes
community relations and communications.
Lobbying and advocacy are government relations subfunctions.
Source: Public Affairs Council
5
“Lobbying is Democracy in Action”
Lobbying is modern
marketing: trying to transform
a group’s narrow interest into
something perceived, rightly
or wrongly, as serving the
broad public interest.”
Robert Samuelson
Newsweek Columnist
December 22, 2008
6
Energy Policy Team
Tim Richards – Managing Director
Melissa Allen– Executive Admin
Canada
John Muir - E
Houston
Paul Doucette – O
Namrata Sharma - O
Washington
Rob Hall - E
George Pickart- M
Pamela Farrell - T
Jon Freedman –W
Colin Enssle - W
Louise Conroy - E
Ruth Smith - N
Amanda Campbell -N
Patricia Campbell –N
Hannah Kaplan – M/E
Bronson Lee - E
Schenectady
Ed Lowe - R
Seth Dunn -R
UK & N. Europe
Simon Ashwell - E
Atlanta
Sherry Odom – M/E
David Malkin – E
John McDonald – D
Bradford Swann - E
Europe
Markus Becker – E
FX Dussart - S
Martin Berkenkamp –R
Izabela Kielichowska -R
Magdalena Kluczycki – J Christelle Verstraeten –
W
Gabriele Peri - O
France
Said Rahmani - E
Middle East
John Lancia - E
Rola Nasreddine E
Africa
Vacant - E
Latin America
Fabio Rua - E
Gilberto García Vazquez - E
Japan
Masahiko Sakurai - E
China
Feng Yan - E
Jing Jing Li –R
Kevin Zhu – W
Ming Ming Ma T
India
Sharmila Barathan - E
Nitin Bhate - R
ASEAN
Kristin Paulson –
E
Australia
Kirby Anderson – E
Legend
E – Energy wide
Management
O – Oil & Gas
T - Thermal
W – Water
N – Nuclear
M - Energy
P – Power & Water
D – Digital Energy 7
R – Renewables
A – Aero
Steps in the Planning Process
Clarify Business
Goals/Organization
Measure
Translate into
Public Affairs GoalCoordinate with
other functions
Execute
Develop Plan
•
•
•
•
Actions
Accountabilities
Processes
Budget
Determine
Strategies
• Messages
• Messengers
• Channels
Define
Public Affairs
Objectives
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Government Relations
Tools
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Grassroots
Political Action Committee
Trade Associations
Coalitions
Company executives
Company technical experts
Washington staff
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Two Legislative Case Studies
China PNTR Campaign –
2000
BPA/Food Safety - 2010
•Strong, diverse coalition
•
Strong, diverse coalition
•
•CEO engagement
CEO engagement
•
•Targeted Grassroots
Grassroots
•
Media campaign
•Media campaign
•88 of 100 Senate offices
•
Coordination with
Administration and Capitol
Hill champions
•
•Leadership angles
•Defensive Media Strategy
Ample budget
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Tactics of the Best Lobbyists




The three C’s:
Consistency
Conciseness
Credibility
Providing consistently reliable info - 86%
Presenting a concise argument – 82%
Providing evidence to support position – 77%
Presenting, refuting opposing view – 71%
Holding face to face meetings – 70%
 Assuming each represents your constituents, with
whom would you most likely meet?
 A lobbyist you know and trust, from an organization you
are uncertain about – 57%
 A lobbyist you don’t know but who represents a wellrespected organization – 43%
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Source: The Policy Council
Based on Hill Staff Interviews