Feb. 17—ROCHESTER — Jennifer Berquam said no two sessions of the Minnesota Legislature are the same.

“We’re in for another adventure, and we’re not sure exactly how it’ll turn out,” said Olmsted County’s legislative analyst.

With fewer than 100 days in the session that started Monday, Feb. 12,

it’s hard to predict what will happen during the upcoming weeks, but Berquam will be on hand to advocate for the county’s legislative priorities and answer lawmakers’ questions as they arise.

“It’s important,” she said. “It’s like some lobbyists say if you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu. We want to be there, so we’re not having stuff taken away.”

Berquam, who is starting her sixth legislative session on behalf of Olmsted County, is one of many voices at the Legislature advocating on behalf of local governments.

Among others is Heather Corcoran, Rochester’s legislative affairs and policy director, who is starting her fifth session as a city staff member.

A Minnesota State Auditor’s report

states 129 local government entities directly employed lobbying staff or hired contract lobbyists in 2022, the year of the most recent data.

Dave Senjem, sitting Olmsted County commissioner and former state senator and Rochester City Council member, said the work being done by advocates for cities and counties is critical.

“When I initially ran for the state Legislature, I did it, in part, because I did not feel in those days that cities were heard and respected at the state Capitol,” he said. “I don’t think that has changed a lot. You just have to have a presence up there. The voice of the city and county have to be heard.”

Rep. Tina Liebling said Berquam and Corcoran are able to monitor how proposed legislation could affect county and city operations.

“They have to keep an eye on their issues during the session, because we are spread so thin that we can’t necessarily do that,” the Rochester DFLer said.

With 6,705 bills introduced in the state Senate and House last year, elected officials and lobbyists agreed that keeping track of all the activity can be daunting.

“A lot of things happen quickly, so it’s just being on top of things and making sure we are responsive when we need to be and just sharing information timely,” Berquam said.

The work has a price.

The state auditor’s report said local governments spent a total of $11.1 million on lobbying activities in 2022.

Rochester ranked 10th among those reporting more than $100,000 spent on lobbying efforts, with $148,451 reported.

The city’s cost is nearly all related to Corcoran’s position, with $662 connected to other staff efforts.

Deputy City Administrator Aaron Parrish said the city’s reporting of Corcoran’s salary and benefits doesn’t attempt to divide out work Corcoran does on other projects when not working on lobbying efforts, which could explain why the city’s reported cost is higher than other local governments in the state.

Even with that, he said the city is paying less for lobbying efforts than it did prior to hiring Corcoran in 2020, when the city was a member of the Coalition of Greater Minnesota Cities and hired additional outside lobbyists.

The city’s 20219 coalition dues were nearly $82,000, and Parrish said other contracts brought the annual cost to approximately $200,000.

“We ended up saving money in the process,” he said.

The city continues to seek outside support when needed, most recently signing a $40,000 annual contract with the Minneapolis-based Lockridge, Grindal, Nauan law firm to assist in securing permission to hold a local vote on last year’s $205 million sales tax extension, as well as state funding for other projects.

The county’s reported lobbying expense is $88,726, which reflects Berquam’s related salary and benefits, as well as $5,199 in reported expenses directly related to lobbying efforts.

County Administrator Heidi Welsch said the expense brings benefits, since Berquam is able to coordinate county efforts, alongside the lobbying efforts at the Capitol.

“We would need part of a full-time equivalent (position) to manage the internal coordination if we had a contract for a lobbyist,” she said, adding that lobbyist contracts are expensive and would likely cost at least as much as a full-time staff person.

While Rochester hired its first staff member to exclusively handle legislative issues in 2020, Olmsted County discovered the value nearly four decades earlier.

The county created a legislative liaison position in the early 1980s after the Legislature closed the state hospital in Rochester.

“The goal was to get the Legislature to sell it to us for a dollar because I think they were going to spend $1 million a year to mothball it,” said Olmsted County Commissioner Sheila Kiscaden, who served as the initial legislative liaison in 1982.

The effort was a success, and the county sold a portion of the land to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons for $14 million and retained land that houses a variety of county services.

“It turned out that we learned so much by having a legislative liaison that the county administration decided to continue that position,” Kiscaden said. “There is no question that there is value.”

Work continues to help draw funding.

Berquam points to

state funding approved last year

to support three county projects: $8 million for a Graham Park exhibition center, $10 million of a materials recovery facility and $5 million in added funding for construction of an interchange at U.S. Highway 14 and Olmsted County Road 44.

Rochester had similar success, with $14 million for the planned parks facility, $3.6 million for the Willow Creek Regional Trail and $800,000 for the North Broadway park-and-ride facility.

City requests this year include

nearly $23.3 million to support redevelopment along the Zumbro River,

$3 million for solar panels and electric-vehicle infrastructure at the Rochester International Airport and $2.4 million for accessibility and energy efficiency improvements in public buildings.

The county is seeking

$17.4 million to upgrade the county’s recycling facilities

in an effort to reduce solid waste and greenhouse gas emissions. It’s also asking for nearly $12.5 million to help

renovate the Highway Department Building at Graham Park into a community space.

Berquam said other, less obvious, financial benefits exist, from pushing toward increased support for state-mandated services to promoting policies aimed at greater local efficiency.

Rochester Mayor Kim Norton, who served as a state representative for 10 years, said the efforts make the local connection at the Capitol critical, especially for a regional center with more than 120,000 people in greater Minnesota.

“We are growing, and we have more issues that are like Minneapolis and St. Paul, than like Chatfield or Dover,” she said.

Rochester continues to seek policy changes to help address affordable housing, environmental issues and policies that could reduce the reliance on local property taxes.

County priorities include seeking support for mental health funding and policies that will help ensure the county’s waste-to-energy will remain a viable option for reducing waste.

When committee discussions on priority topics are being held, Corcoran said being at the Capitol provides an advantage for the city.

“Being in the room, you can pick up on more about the dynamics of an issue,” she said, pointing out the gathered insight can be shared with city staff and Rochester City Council members to discuss strategy for responding.

At the same time, she said much of the work is making sure members of the local legislative delegation are aware of local needs.

“At the end of the day, the Legislature is a separate body from the city council,” she said. “They get to decide what they’re going to do. That’s why I think it’s important to at least have a presence.”

Sen. Carla Nelson said the need for education can be critical in making sure the best-possible decisions are made in St. Paul.

“They are purveyors of critical information,” the Rochester Republican said of the local lobbyists.

She said Corcoran and Berquam are able to provide answers and insights on how proposed legislation will affect local residents, as well as the local services they rely on.

As a city and county that pays more taxes into the state than it receives in financial support, local officials said that is important.

“I think it’s critical to help our delegation understand the issues important to Rochester,” Parrish said, adding that the work involves a two-way sharing of information.

“Sometimes it’s helping people understand the negative impacts of a proposed bill or proposed change in state policy, so there is an offensive and defensive component to the work,” he said.