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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Did SBA’s McMahon tout Trump tax legislation on IGNITE Tour?The last two months of 2017 were busy travel months for the Small Business Administration’s Linda McMahon. The SBA Administrator made at least 7 stops in cities and towns in November and December on her nationwide IGNITE Tour of SBA District Offices. She publicized SBA’s services and heard from small business owners, along with SBA staff, at each IGNITE stop. An appointee of President Trump, McMahon also apparently gave the impression to some observers that she was promoting Trump’s tax cuts during those visits. “SBA Chief Linda McMahon talks wrestling, touts tax plan in Phoenix,” stated a headline from the Arizona Republican after her IGNITE visit there on Nov. 8, 2017. “SBA leader says tax cuts will grow economy,” stated the headline in The Courier in Waterloo, IA after a Dec. 13 IGNITE visit in Des Moines. McMahon announced in advance of some of the IGNITE visits that she would be discussing “tax structures” in her roundtable meetings with small business owners during those visits. But what did she say, exactly, in those meetings? It is hard to know, because some of those IGNITE sessions were closed to the press. The words she used to talk about tax issues are important because she and other federal employees are bound by complicated Anti-Lobbying Act rules not to engage in certain types of lobbying on legislation. Based on the narrow interpretations of the law and the limited evidence at hand, however, it is very unlikely McMahon would be charged with any impropriety. Even so, the media reports of her allegedly promoting the Republican tax bill during the tour are raising some questions. McMahon declined to respond to a request for comment. Her actions also may bring more attention to whether the IGNITE Tour overall has been effective and a good value for taxpayers so far. Set-Aside Alert decided to take a closer look. IGNITE Tour goals McMahon launched the IGNITE Tour in June of 2017 with the goal of visiting all 68 SBA District Offices around the country. To date, she has visited 56 of them. So far, those trips have cost the SBA about $1,800 for each destination, covering air travel, hotel and meals for McMahon and two staffers, for a total of $100,800, according to a statement from SBA spokesman Jim Billimoria to Set-Aside Alert. That does not include salaries or staff preparation time. The IGNITE Tour “has been incredibly effective not only with respect to raising awareness of SBA programs and services, but also in terms of helping to make the agency more responsive to its constituents,” Billimoria said. McMahon, plus two SBA staff members, typically fly on a commercial airliner with government-paid fares. McMahon pays for her own local transportation from her own funds, Billimoria said. The amount she has spent from her personal funds was not available. McMahon and her team travel together to an SBA district office, followed by a visit to a couple of small businesses, then a roundtable discussion with small business owners--often behind closed doors with no media allowed--and interviews with local radio or TV stations. A visit to an IGNITE destination typically takes a full work day. Sometimes McMahon and her staff stay overnight in hotels for IGNITE, but how often that happens, and the costs, have not been tallied, and total official costs for the IGNITE Tour so far are not available, Billimoria added. Publicity Tour One of the IGNITE Tour goals has been to raise awareness of the SBA’s services, and it seems to have been at least moderately effective in doing so, with significant radio, TV and newspaper coverage in many of the places visited. Much of the publicity has been about McMahon and her colorful entertainment career. Judging by the photos, tweets and television spots featuring McMahon that appear after each stop on the tour, she is a popular speaker. She often is quoted talking about her own experiences growing wrestling shows into a billion-dollar business. McMahon “seems to revel in telling her own small-business rags-to-riches story,” observed a New London (CT) Day news reporter after an IGNITE Tour event. Readers there wondered if she wants to raise her national profile to run for office again (she ran for the U.S. Senate twice in Connecticut). McMahon did not respond to a request for comment. Tax bill comments In November and December of 2017, shortly after the Republican tax plan was introduced and before it passed Congress, McMahon made IGNITE stops in New Jersey on Nov. 4; Syracuse, NY on Nov. 6; Tucson and Phoenix, AZ on Nov. 8, Portland, ME on Nov. 27 and Des Moines, IA on Dec. 13. Media outlets reported that McMahon discussed tax issues at each of those events. In some headlines it said she promoted the GOP tax plan. McMahon also has continued to discuss tax issues, including the Republican tax law, in many IGNITE events throughout 2018, media reported. Those actions could raise concerns, especially the conversations that occurred while the legislation was pending in Congress. The Anti-Lobbying Act of 1919 generally prohibits federal government executives and employees from engaging in lobbying to influence Congress on legislation. However, while the anti-lobbying law is written very broadly, in practice it has been interpreted narrowly by both parties over the years, partly due to freedom of speech concerns. There are multiple exemptions developed by the Justice Dept. in the 1990s still in effect. The DOJ guidelines focus enforcement on “substantial” grassroots lobbying. That term has not been well defined, according to watchdog groups such as Public Citizen and the Project on Government Oversight. There also is an exemption allowing Cabinet members to lobby within their “areas of responsibility.” That term also has not been tested. Measuring value and impact Early in the IGNITE Tour, McMahon described it partly as an effort as a new CEO to get out and meet her team. So far, it has taken the equivalent of 11 work weeks. It is not clear whether McMahon considered the many digital alternatives available as an alternative to traveling to 68 destinations. Based on its media coverage, the taxes and the GOP tax plan have been consistent topics on the IGNITE Tour, even before the plan got voted on. Whether that puts a partisan spin on the IGNITE Tour, or not, is debatable. Meanwhile, the SBA plans to continue IGNITE, with 12 more stops and about $22,000 in travel costs, to go.
More Information:
Project on Government Oversight: Understanding the Anti-Lobbying Law
Public Citizen white paper: Restrictions on Government Entities Lobbying the Federal Government
News stories:
azcentral.com story:https://bit.ly/2RNiGTE
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