Moving fast: Tech lobbyist races to results

Ralph Hellmann is not one to wait around, either for the Republican Party to reclaim the majority or hot-button issues like immigration to cool off, in order to do right by his client.

“I really don’t have a strong partisan style. I just like getting things done,” said Hellmann.

Under his helm, the lobbying team at the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI) has earned a reputation as a smart and aggressive advocate on Capitol Hill for the high-tech cause.

{mosads}Hellmann, 46, joined ITI in 2001 after several years advising House Republican leaders, including then-House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.). But politics was not always foremost on the Florida native’s mind. He describes himself as a former “beach bum” who did not vote in the 1980 presidential election because he could not choose between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter.

“Now I know better,” Hellmann said.

By college, Hellmann’s interest in Washington had begun to simmer. He majored in political science and says he typically flipped to C-SPAN instead of MTV. In 1984, he took a job as a paid intern to then-Rep. Buddy MacKay (D-Fla.).

Hellmann soon after switched sides and began to move up the ranks. He worked for several prominent GOP lawmakers, such as Rep. Newt Gingrich (Ga.), before becoming a key adviser to party leadership. There, Hellmann helped to push through welfare reform, anti-poverty legislation and the No Child Left Behind Act.

The lobbyist always strived for results in Congress and saw the need for both parties to work together. Hellmann put that philosophy into practice as the liaison between then-House Majority Whip Tom DeLay (R-Texas) and the coalition of Blue Dog Democrats.

“He knows substance, but even more importantly, he knows the institutional quirks and the process as well as anybody in town,” said Rep. Adam Putman (Fla.), the House Republican Conference chairman. Putnam credits Hellmann with educating members on “how the technology sector is a driver of the economy.”

As ITI’s senior vice president of government relations, Hellmann says it is not difficult to lobby for his trade group’s members — corporations like Dell and eBay — since they are “the coolest companies in the world.”

“We call it the ‘wow’ effect,” said Hellmann. But gone are the days when high-powered executives for tech companies could fly into Washington once a year, meet with lawmakers and expect to achieve what they wanted on Capitol Hill, according to the lobbyist. Now, a daily, active presence is necessary to keep check on Congress, which can affect the industry on multiple fronts.

Increasingly, other well-heeled business lobbies with decades of experience in Washington are weighing in against tech companies’ interests. “We have to match them in shoe leather,” said Hellmann.

Adam Kovacevich, Google’s Washington spokesman, described Hellmann as an excellent advocate for the tech cause — a “good consensus-builder” who has “a great understanding of what is actually possible on the Hill.”

“He has never stopped building relationships with new generations of staff,” said Kovacevich, who worked at ITI in 2005.

To maintain ITI’s lobbying prowess, the trade group executive has helped assemble a team of “type-A personalities” who can work with both parties and understand how Congress works. Each lobbyist has between five and 10 years of government service, Hellmann estimated.

“With Rahm, we moved a million miles a minute and we got things done. I felt ITI worked the same way,” said Jon Hoganson, who recently joined ITI from House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emmanuel’s (Ill.) office. “It wasn’t about white papers and setting up meetings.”

Hellmann credits ITI’s quick action with helping to convince Congress to set a date for the country to move from analog to digital television. The trade group and its member companies formed the DTV Coalition, and stressed in Hill meetings that the sale of spectrum bandwidth could generate $10 billion in federal revenue, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates.

More recently, ITI has waded into the emotional battle over immigration. Hellmann’s German-born parents came to America in 1956 on his father’s employment visa, so the debate has special resonance for the lobbyist.

“There is a strong nativist element in Washington right now,” said Hellmann. Republicans have weighed in against immigration reform.

Democrats, meanwhile, have railed against trade deals, another ITI priority.

With so much on the trade group’s plate, Hellmann plans to keep ITI up to date on Washington’s happenings and sees no need to slow down.

“Politics is a fast-moving sport,” Hellmann said.