December 10, 2015 Dr. Blackburn It was a pleasure meeting with you and Board Member Andy Ziegler earlier this week to discuss legislative advocacy for Brevard Public Schools. Although we did not know each other, and I certainly did not know what to expect, I was impressed with your background and the methodical approach you employ when evaluating potential expenses. Your approach is a must given the limited resources and what it takes to drive student learning in our schools. We discussed everything from capital outlay projects to start up grants for new training programs, as areas in which an effective lobby firm should be able to help your district. SCG can be effective with those types of projects; however, such require groundwork to be laid 3 to 6 months prior to the start of the legislative session. In the short term, we truly feel we can help your district with the most critical immediate concern, which is continuation of the Federally Connected Student Supplement (FCSS). As you know, 14 counties receive $12.4 million in total funds from this source, with Brevard County receiving the most, at $2.59 million. The Florida Legislature created the FCSS in the FEFP Conference Report on SB 2500-A. By creating this funding stream in an implementing bill, the funding is only guaranteed for the current fiscal year. The Legislature would either have to approve the funding in an implementing bill or in a conforming bill, for the funding to continue in the 2016-17 Fiscal Year.
By taking these supplemental funds from the general FEFP, the legislature negatively impacted the funds available to all school districts not included in this formula. In the calculation included in my email you can see how the new FCSS negatively impacts select districts. For example, Dade and Broward combined lost $2.8 million. It should be noted that the incoming speaker after Speaker Crisafulli is from Pasco County, which loses just north of $300k. Due to this fact, it is very likely there will be efforts by the other districts, and their lobbyists, to interrupt this new funding stream. Over the years I have seem countless battles over Sparsity funding, the District Cost Differential, and a host of other allocations that benefit one group of districts over another. For this reason, the Brevard County School Board should strongly consider taking steps that would place you in a proactive, rather than a reactive, position as it relates to this matter. SCG Governmental Affairs is a firm that you can trust, and count on, to get this job done. As I mentioned yesterday, our firm has a long history of representing clients in education and appropriations, and we have extensive experience working within the process in both education policy and appropriations. But most importantly, we currently do not represent a school district; therefore we have no clients that would be opposed to the continuation of this funding. And, we pledge to you that if we are retained by Brevard County Schools, we will not represent any other school boards as long as this funding issue is in play. We would see it as an absolute conflict to represent any other district that does not receive this supplemental funding. Later in this document, you will find our biographical information and information related to successes that we have had that will be of interest to you. Short Term Action Plan Obviously, seeking a reallocation of the FCSS would be the immediate goal of a short term, single-session engagement. When retained, we would immediately begin working with your
legislative delegation to develop a game plan in order to make that happen. This would include reaching out to legislators in other delegations, as well. Particularly, we would target those legislators who have districts that are wholly contained (or a majority of constituents located) in counties that also receive this funding. Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Escambia counties all receive well in excess of $1 million each, and we would expect them to also want to see this funding continue. Their representatives and senators would be good allies for your delegation members, and we would work to coordinate those efforts. In fact, it may be possible to create a coalition comprised of such counties to jointly work on this issue. Our firm has direct experience in creating and representing such coalitions and information about that is included in the bio of partner Lane Stephens. SCG proposes to represent Brevard County Schools for a fixed fee of $24,000. The term of the engagement is limited to run from January 1, 2016 through the end of the Regular Session, which is scheduled to end on March 11, 2016. Our scope of work would include seeking a reallocation of the Federally Connected Student Supplement and a limited number of other Brevard-specific issues. If we are able to create a coalition of counties that receives the funding, and those counties agree to participate in funding a coalition lobbying effort that we would run, we would reduce your fee accordingly. For example, if a coalition is created and members each contribute $10,000 to a lobbying effort, we would reduce your fee to $14,000 so that you are not double- billed for our efforts on that issue. The remaining fee would cover other Brevard specific issues. At the end of this contract, we would propose a long-term contract that would be more commensurate with the level of work that comes with full-time representation. But, we would continue to take into account Brevard’s participation in a coalition, if such coalition comes to fruition. We will be happy to discuss this
expanded effort at the appropriate time. Sincerely, Mark Maxwell Firm Bios and Success Mark Maxwell has spent his entire career in the legislative and executive governmental arena. His professional career includes sixteen years of public service directly engaged with Florida’s legislative process. Eleven of those years he served as staff for the House Appropriations Committee and five in the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget. During his tenure in the Governor’s Office he served as senior K-12 budget staff for Governor Lawton Chiles overseeing all K-12 operational funding, including the Florida Education Finance Program (FEFP) allocation model. Under Governor Bush, he served as the chief finance advisor for all education systems PreK - 20. He also served as the Governor’s representative on all Education Estimating Conferences and K-12 FEFP Allocation Conferences. Mr. Maxwell’s FEFP experience defines him as one of a very limited group who truly understands the intricacies of the funding formula. On multiple occasions, he has been called on to utilize his expertise in FEFP by providing training services to the Governor’s Office of Policy and Budget to ensure new personnel are proficient in the mechanics and policies that provide the foundation for the funding formula. Before joining SCG, he founded his own governmental consulting business in November 2000. Mr. Maxwell specializes in education finance and policy development, legislative appropriations, and advocacy development. As a former insider, he has strong
relationships with key staff involved with the appropriations process in both the executive and legislative branches; he has extensive relationships throughout state government, particularly in the education community. He served as the lead lobbyist for the Florida Virtual School 2000 to 2013 and represents numerous other education-related clients on both substantive and appropriations matters. Through these representations he has developed strong relationships with leadership in the House of Representatives and Senate. Mark is a native of North Florida. He received his Bachelor’s degree from Florida State University in 1989 and lives in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife and three children. Example of Prior Success in the K-12 government and non- profit arena: Florida Virtual School. Represented FLVS from 2001 – 2013 in the legislative and executive branches, serving as its sole lobbyist from 2001-2006. During a special session in 2001 to balance the state budget, Mr. Maxwell successfully lobbied the full senate to restore a proposed 50% reduction to the FLVS line item appropriation. This was a huge success as the senate bill was the bill that was the primary vehicle in which budget reductions were to be enacted. In 2003, as part of the legislation to implement the constitutional amendment on class size, Mr. Maxwell was instrumental in persuading the Governor, legislature, and key staff to support inclusion of a long term funding solution for FLVS. The proposed formula change to the FEFP was adopted almost exactly as drafted and had the effect of making FLVS a 68th district with a statewide presence. As the 2003 Session progressed, Mr. Maxwell determined existing choice laws were weak and did not address a student’s right to access FLVS. To address this concern, a series of changes were added throughout the school code to strengthen
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