Counties beef up advocacy
When Oklahoma lawmakers f aced extreme budget holes in the last few years, roughly $ 230 million was taken from a fund helping county governments in the state complete extraordinary road and bridge projects they couldn't otherwise afford.
County commissioners were frustrated, though they understood the scope of the state' s need. But the loss of money has since pushed county officials to become more actively engaged in advocacy efforts.
“Everyone has been focused on the fact that we still have these needs, they are getting worse and we need to do something,” said Gene Wallace, director of the Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma. “It really gave an emphasis for more and more of our commissioners to get involved. Nothing mobilizes you like a crisis.”
City, state and federal policies around transportation, criminal justice, agriculture, health services, the environment and more all impact how counties can operate. Contracts to hold inmates in county j ails, permits to build roads and bridges and funding for special projects are only a few of the direct interactions counties will have with other government entities.
That's why organizations like the National Association of Counties on the federal level and Association of County Commissioners of Oklahoma on the state level exist to lobby for countyf riendly policies, Wallace said.
“(Legislators) need to hear factual, statistical analysis, and that's what we do here,” Wallace said. “We see our role as providing quality information. Without us doing that, it is hard for them to make good decisions.”
National needs
At t he e nd of J ul y, t he White House hosted county government and tribal officials from the Midwest to discuss disaster recovery and infrastructure needs and pass out direct contact information for top administrative agencies.
Over a dozen Oklahoma officials attended, and Grant County Commissioner Cindy Bobbitt said these meetings have been vital in making sure local projects get done and broader legislative needs for counties are understood and met on the federal level.
“If we're not at the table, we're on the menu,” Bobbitt said. “We need a seat because they need to understand what our issues are. It' s about education and sitting at the table and having a dialogue to come up with solutions so that we can be better and grow our economy and provide goods and services for our constituents.”
For county governments, building partnerships is necessary, said Bobbitt, who serves as one of eight regional directors for the National Association of Counties. There are 3,069 counties in America, but many of their needs are the same, she added.
Each of the association's 2019 legislative priorities would have a large impact on Oklahoma: Increased investments in infrastructure, bolstering mental health and substance abuse treatment, engaging in criminal justice reform, establishing a system where counties don't need permits to clean humanmade ditches and more.
“When counties are united at the national level, we are an immense force for the public good,” reads part of the assocation's 2018-2019 annual report.
Recently, counties have successfully lobbied to reduce how many years FEMA can ask for emergency funding to be returned, as well as pushing for special funding for county transportation needs to be included in federal transportation bills.
Bobbitt said t he Trump administration has been active in reaching out to learn the needs of counties, particularly those that are rural.
“There are no red potholes, and there are no blue potholes — there are just potholes,” Bobbitt said.
Oklahoma advocacy
In Oklahoma, legislative advocacy efforts are more targeted and specific, and Wallace estimates that since the Legislature used the $230 million of county money to fill budget holes, communication with lawmakers has increased by more than half.
When input is needed on bills or legislators need to be contacted before a vote, Oklahoma association reaches out to ask county officials for help. Some members may even show up and fill the galley in the statehouse as an i mpactful bill makes its way through the system so lawmakers see who may be affected, Bobbitt said.
And the efforts have proven effective: Roughly $30 million of the $230 million has been returned. Counties also won increased funding for rural flooding issues, removed the funding cap on county employee savings plans and got court and county clerks a fee increase to help archive records, among other things.
The Oklahoma association also lobbied against bills that could limit counties' ability to regulate oil and gas activity on county roads, an effort to change how road and bridge funding is allocated to counties and more, according to an association legislative update.
“We have a lot of new legislators that maybe don't have the institutional knowledge about the problems in counties, so it would be very rare that something would come up that a legislator hadn't heard from us on,” Wallace said.
Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan said he will advocate when there is a serious problem or when lawmakers might be making decisions on bills that could impact counties in ways they were unaware of, but usually he is taking calls from legislators with questions.
“I always communicate with legislators and tell them I'm available any time they have questions, and I've had several that will call me and ask my advice or they want to know practically how it is going to affect counties,” Maughan said.
Looking forward, Wallace said the Oklahoma association' s legislative committee and other officials have already started planning for issues that will impact county revenues in the future, like more electric cars depleting the amount of motor fuel tax counties get, as well as how the decriminalization of marijuana to a misdemeanor charge has put more pressure on county jails.
Bobbitt said county advocacy organizations provide a unified voice that make lobbying efforts more successful.
"They get us all on the same page ," Bobbitt said ." We want to make sure we're not in conflict over something that would hurt one county and be beneficial for another county. We want to make sure that we speak as a collective voice."