Election Reminds Companies Strong Government Relations Matter (Perspective)

Editor’s Note: The author heads the legal department of a major corporation.

By Thomas Moriarty, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer and General Counsel, CVS Health

While most Americans will breathe a sigh of relief that this presidential election is over, for business, our job is just starting. For us, the intense scrutiny of who will govern will be replaced by a less public but no less intense scrutiny of how they will govern.

Business leaders, especially general counsel, would be myopic if they assume that with the close of the election their attention can shift away from the hallways of state and federal governments. Today, politics are a 24/7, 365 day per year contest, and businesses must engage accordingly through all of their available channels.

In an omnipresent and complex policy and political environment, business leaders need to understand and appreciate the full suite of government affairs (GA) tools available to them, and they must be able to deploy them rapidly and strategically.

Increasingly, companies are looking to their general counsel to manage government relations. General counsel are already responsible for regulatory review and legal compliance, so broadening the scope of their responsibilities to include adjacent functions like lobbying and policy engagement has a certain logic. Below are five strategic guideposts to help general counsel maneuver the complex world of government affairs and ensure they have a voice in the public policy debate.

Establish a Strong In-House Government Affairs Team.External consultants and advisers can be valuable for tactical engagement, but in-house government affairs teams are critical to establishing a company’s relationships with elected officials. At CVS Health, government oversight of our business and the 9,600 pharmacy locations we operate in 49 states demand that we deploy a national-to-neighborhood infrastructure. Our in-house experts track Federal regulatory and legislative actions. Likewise, regional leaders engage leaders in state houses and city halls across the country. This integrated approach ensures that our company is nimble, engaged and responsive at every level of government about the many issues that face our business.

Build Relationships in Your Own Backyard.Companies that build “home teams” of representatives in Congress from areas where they have a strong presence and develop relationships with their local elected officials are more often successful in advancing their advocacy agendas. Yet many companies fail to build strong relationships with their local representatives until a crisis emerges, which is the wrong time to start a relationship.

As one of the largest employers in New England, and with more than 240,000 employees in every state in the country, CVS Health regularly engages local policy makers and their staff, educating them on our business and serving as a resource to advance policies that help make healthcare affordable and accessible and improve the quality of life in their communities. For example, last year CVS Health joined a coalition of business leaders established by Rhode Island’s Governor Raimondo to restructure Rhode Island’s career and technical education system as a means to address the state’s growing skills gap.

Identify Your Issues and Set an Agenda.Central to the GA function is the responsibility of identifying, analyzing and prioritizing issues, identifying threats and opportunities for your company and then designing engagement strategies to address those challenges. For example, there is significant debate at all levels of government about the costs, accessibility and delivery of health care. As a leading national health care company, the outcome of this debate is central to our business. We want to be sure that Americans have access to convenient, affordable and high quality health care and that unintended negative consequences of future regulations are avoided. This requires that we are heard in Washington and in state capitals. We contribute to the public dialogue and offer solutions, not just critiques.

Remember Policy Makers are Always Listening.Policy makers are always listening, to the press and social media. Public statements, decisions that impact local employment and other business decisions which will play out in the public sphere should be coordinated with your government affairs team. Politicians get their news and ideas for legislative ideas from the same sources as the public. Press statements by opponents can be a heads up that an advocacy campaign affecting your company is underway. Requests for comment should be reviewed through a government affairs prism. Close coordination between GA and corporate communications can help limit self-inflicted wounds.

Know the Rules of the Road.Understanding the full GA toolbox means understanding how tools can – and can’t – be used. Many companies set up Political Action Committees (PAC) to help get their message to elected officials. Corporate political donations are permitted in some states and not in others. It is critically important that companies know what the guardrails of political donations are and how different jurisdictions approach campaign finance laws, pay-to-play rules and other conflict of interest restrictions, and lobbying disclosure requirements. Missteps in this arena can lead to fines and litigation and severely damage a company’s reputation.

Bottom Line.Business success relies on informed decisions developed through collaborative work between government leaders and policymakers. Businesses with a well-run GA operation can help their company succeed by advancing a policy conversation and defending against unforeseen threats and regulatory movement. This work takes patience, diligence and consistent engagement and monitoring. If properly executed, these efforts can contribute to creating policies that improve the lives of people, ensure important industries remain competitive and drive America’s economic engine.