Governor Haley Barbour
State Advocacy
BGR’s bipartisan teams in Washington and Austin maintain extensive and high-level relationships with governors, Lt. governors, attorneys general, secretaries of state, legislative leaders, and mayors throughout the country. Our trusted name, reputation for achieving results, and national network are valued commodities that are consistently relied upon by clients to deliver new business opportunities and policy solutions.
Even before the coronavirus pandemic, state officials were the driving force on economic development, health care delivery, equitable education, disaster response, and infrastructure spending and policies. BGR’s experienced professionals directly engage decision-makers in state capitols across the country to lobby on policy matters. We also work to help private entities effectively compete for opportunities before state and local governments. Many state and local officials have joined the Biden-Harris Administration, including former Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm as Energy Secretary; North Carolina Secretary of Environmental Quality Michael Regan as the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; former South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg as Transportation Secretary; and former Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, as Commerce Secretary. Enlisting the support of current state and local officials is often a critical differentiator of BGR’s work on behalf of clients’ federal advocacy priorities.
There are, however, increasingly divergent policy directions between states and the federal government on labor, health and education policies. Republicans currently control 61 of the 98 partisan state legislative chambers, including total control in 23 states. In place of working collaboratively with the Trump Administration, many Republican leaders are challenging the new administration’s policies, often led by the 26 GOP attorneys general. With decades of experience navigating complex issues within government entities across the country, BGR’s lobbyists ensure our clients’ messages are appropriately calibrated for the targeted audiences and coordinated to advance business development priorities.