Competing for a Congressional Earmark: One Group’s Quest

Special Olympics announced two years ago that it would supplement its quadrennial international athletic

competitions for disabled athletes with a national, weeklong sports competition to be held every four years.

The charity selected Ames, Iowa, as the site for its first Special Olympics National Games in July 2006, formed a separate tax-exempt entity to raise money, and then pursued an earmark, or line-item appropriation, from Congress. After more than a year of work, and $100,000 in lobbying fees and travel costs, Special Olympics won $4-million in federal aid. The event is expected to cost a total of $15-million.

Special Olympics officials say that they were fortunate that two Iowa lawmakers serve on the powerful Congressional Appropriations committees that determine federal spending. One is Sen. Tom Harkin, a Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that controls spending by the Department of Education, and the other is Rep. Tom Latham, a Republican member of the House Appropriations Committee.

“The stars were aligned just right,” says Terri Hasselman, a fund-raising consultant who worked on the Special Olympics project.

Following are the key steps Special Olympics took to win the money:

October 2003: Special Olympics officials visit the Capitol Hill offices of Iowa lawmakers in both the House and Senate and ask how best to pursue federal dollars for the charity’s upcoming athletic competition there. The project obtains tentative support from Senator Harkin and Representative Latham; their staff members encourage the charity to seek an earmark.

January 2004: Special Olympics officials make a second visit to Washington to meet with staff members for Mr. Harkin and Mr. Latham.

February 2004: The charity hires Brian Kennedy, a lobbyist at the DCI Group, in Washington, to coordinate its efforts to influence Congressional budget legislation. Special Olympics pays $75,000 for his services over the next 10 months.

Special Olympics also follows up its January visits to Senator Harkin and Representative Latham by sending both lawmakers 30 to 40 letters from prominent Iowa residents who support the athletic event, including the governor, members of the General Assembly, mayors, county boards of supervisors, and local chambers of commerce.

February-March 2004: Special Olympics completes forms for Mr. Harkin, Mr. Latham, and other key lawmakers from Iowa, requesting an earmark. Most members of Congress who sit on Appropriations committees require such forms.

March 2004: Special Olympics officials make a third trip to Washington to meet with aides to Mr. Harkin and Mr. Latham. They are accompanied by the vice provost of Iowa State University, the campus on which the games will be held; a member of the Story County Board of Supervisors; and the mayor of Ames.

March-April 2004: Mr. Latham makes a formal request for a $2-million earmark for Special Olympics in the bill drafted by the House subcommittee that directs spending by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Mr. Latham notes that the project jibes with the goals of the federal agency, which include stimulating local economies and helping people with disabilities.

April 2004: Special Olympics sends additional letters in support of the games to 15 senators and 15 representatives recommended by the lobbyist because each is either a chairman or senior member of key Appropriations subcommittees. Each member receives two letters apiece from local Special Olympics leaders or other key supporters of the event who live in that member’s home state or district.

July 2004: Accompanied by some of the local Special Olympics leaders who wrote letters, Special Olympics representatives travel to Washington to meet with the lawmakers. By dividing into three groups, the charity officials hold meetings arranged by its lobbyist with 18 of the lawmakers on Appropriations subcommittees. A few weeks later, Special Olympics learns that the $2-million earmark requested by Mr. Latham is included in the final House bill governing spending by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

August 2004: To supplement its efforts to get the earmark in the House’s Housing and Urban Development bill, the charity decides to also lobby the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that determines spending by that federal agency. Local Special Olympics officials contact the subcommittee’s chair, Sen. Christopher Bond, a Missouri Republican, when he returns to his home state during the Congressional recess. Mr. Bond says his subcommittee will not oppose the $2-million Special Olympics earmark when the House and Senate work together to reconcile differences in the final version of the spending bill.

September 2004: Mr. Harkin, who sits on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that directs spending by the Education Department, includes a $2-million earmark for Special Olympics in his subcommittee’s bill. The request for the earmark says that the athletic competition will further the federal agency’s goals by educating people about the capabilities of people with disabilities.

November 2004: The Appropriations committees in the House and Senate resolve the differences in their spending bills, and Congress and President Bush approve them. Special Olympics learns it will receive both the $2-million earmark in the housing and urban development bill and the $2-million earmark in the education bill.

January 2005: Special Olympics begins to raise money and seek donated products and services to pay for the games by approaching potential corporate sponsors, private foundations, and other sources of support. The charity is also notified by the Education Department and the Department of Housing and Urban Development that it must complete required paperwork to receive the earmarked funds.

June 2005: Special Olympics returns the required documents to the two federal agencies.

September 2005: Special Olympics is scheduled to receive the earmarked funds.