State and Federal Lobbying Services

REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL
RFP # 26-46
State and Federal Lobbying Services
City of Ann Arbor
City Administrator's Office
Due Date: October 28, 2026 by 2:00 p.m. (local time)
Issued By:
City of Ann Arbor
Procurement Unit
301 E. Huron Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

TABLE OF CONTENTS
SECTION I: GENERAL INFORMATION ..................................................................... ...3
SECTION II: SCOPE OF SERVICES ........................................................................... 10
SECTION III: MINIMUM INFORMATION REQUIRED ................................................. 13
SECTION IV: ATTACHMENTS .................................................................................... 17
APPENDIX A: SAMPLE PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT
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SECTION I - GENERAL INFORMATION
A. OBJECTIVE
The City of Ann Arbor is seeking the services of an agency or agencies to help
coordinate and assist with lobbying activities at the state and/or federal level. The
agency or agencies selected will provide intelligence and analysis regarding legislative
policy changes that may affect the City; executive regulatory and enforcement actions
that may affect the City; help plan and advise on policy initiatives that require the
approval of state or federal appointed or elected officials; provide networking and
engagement opportunities for the City in furtherance of its policy goals; and other
related activities. The agency or agencies selected will work at the direction of the City
Administrator, and will work cooperatively with the city's elected leadership to pursue
the adopted policy agenda of the City Council.
B. QUESTIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS / DESIGNATED CITY CONTACTS
All questions regarding this Request for Proposal (RFP) shall be submitted via e-mail.
Questions will be accepted and answered in accordance with the terms and conditions
of this RFP.
All questions shall be submitted on or before October 1, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. (local
time), and should be addressed as follows:
Scope of Work/Proposal Content questions shall be e-mailed to Mariah Walton,
Deputy City Administrator mwalton@a2gov.org
RFP Process and Compliance questions shall be e-mailed to Colin Spencer, Buyer
- CSpencer@a2gov.org
Should any prospective offeror be in doubt as to the true meaning of any portion of
this RFP, or should the prospective offeror find any ambiguity, inconsistency, or
omission therein, the prospective offeror shall make a written request for an official
interpretation or correction by the due date for questions above.
All interpretations, corrections, or additions to this RFP will be made only as an official
addendum that will be posted to a2gov.org and MITN.info and it shall be the
prospective offeror's responsibility to ensure they have received all addenda before
submitting a proposal. Any addendum issued by the City shall become part of the
RFP, and must be incorporated in the proposal where applicable.
C. PRE-PROPOSAL MEETING
No pre-proposal meeting will be held for this RFP. Please contact staff indicated above
with general questions regarding the RFP.
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D. PROPOSAL FORMAT
To be considered, each firm must submit a response to this RFP using the format
provided in Section III. No other distribution of proposals is to be made by the
prospective offeror. An official authorized to bind the offeror to its provisions must
sign the proposal. Each proposal must remain valid for at least ninety days from the
due date of this RFP.
Proposals should be prepared simply and economically providing a straightforward,
concise description of the offeror's ability to meet the requirements of the RFP. No
erasures are permitted. Mistakes may be crossed out and corrected and must be
initialed in ink by the person signing the proposal.
E. SELECTION CRITERIA
Responses to this RFP will be evaluated using a point system as shown in Section III.
A selection committee comprised of staff from the City will complete the evaluation.
The fee proposals will not be reviewed at the initial evaluation. After initial evaluation,
the City will determine top proposals, and open only those fee proposals. The City
will then determine which, if any, firms will be interviewed. During the interviews, the
selected firms will be given the opportunity to discuss their proposal, qualifications,
past experience, and their fee proposal in more detail. The City further reserves the
right to interview the key personnel assigned by the selected offeror to this project. If
the City chooses to interview any respondents, the interviews will be tentatively held
the week of November 9, 2026. Offeror must be available on these dates.
All proposals submitted may be subject to clarifications and further negotiation. All
agreements resulting from negotiations that differ from what is represented within the
RFP or in the proposal response shall be documented and included as part of the final
contract.
F. SEALED PROPOSAL SUBMISSION
All proposals are due and must be delivered to the City on or before, October
28, 2026 at 2:00 p.m. (local time). Proposals submitted late or via oral, telephonic,
telegraphic, electronic mail or facsimile will not be considered or accepted.
Each respondent must submit in a sealed envelope:
* one (1) original proposal
* one (1) additional proposal copy
* one (1) digital copy of the proposal preferably on a USB/flash drive
as one file in PDF format
Each respondent should submit in a single separate sealed envelope marked
Fee Proposal:
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* two (2) copies of the fee proposal
The fee proposal and all costs should be separate from the rest of the
proposal.
Proposals submitted should be clearly marked: "RFP No. 26-46 - State and Federal
Lobbying Services" and list the offeror's name and address.
Proposals must be addressed and delivered to:
City of Ann Arbor
c/o Customer Service
301 East Huron Street
Ann Arbor, MI 48104
All proposals received on or before the due date will be publicly opened and recorded
on the due date. No immediate decisions will be rendered.
Hand delivered bids may be dropped off in the Purchasing drop box located in the Ann
Street (north) vestibule/entrance of City Hall which is open to the public Monday
through Friday from 8am to 5pm (except holidays). The City will not be liable to any
prospective offeror for any unforeseen circumstances, delivery, or postal delays.
Postmarking on the due date will not substitute for receipt of the proposal. Offerors
are responsible for submission of their proposal. Additional time will not be granted
to a single prospective offeror. However, additional time may be granted to all
prospective offerors at the discretion of the City.
A proposal may be disqualified if the following required forms are not included
with the proposal:
* Attachment B - Non-Discrimination Declaration of Compliance
* Attachment C - Living Wage Declaration of Compliance
* Attachment D - Vendor Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form
Proposals that fail to provide these forms listed above upon proposal opening
may be deemed non-responsive and may not be considered for award.
Please provide the forms outlined above (Attachments B, C and D) within your
narrative proposal, not within the separately sealed Fee Proposal envelope.
All proposed fees, cost or compensation for the services requested herein
should be provided in the separately sealed Fee Proposal envelope only.
G. DISCLOSURES
Under the Freedom of Information Act (Public Act 442), the City is obligated to permit
review of its files, if requested by others. All information in a proposal is subject to
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disclosure under this provision. This act also provides for a complete disclosure of
contracts and attachments thereto.
H. TYPE OF CONTRACT
A sample of the Professional Services Agreement is included as Appendix A. Those
who wish to submit a proposal to the City are required to review this sample agreement
carefully. The City will not entertain changes to its Professional Services
Agreement.
The City reserves the right to award the total proposal, to reject any or all proposals
in whole or in part, and to waive any informality or technical defects if, in the City's
sole judgment, the best interests of the City will be so served.
This RFP and the selected offeror's response thereto, shall constitute the basis of the
scope of services in the contract by reference.
I. NONDISCRIMINATION
All offerors proposing to do business with the City shall satisfy the contract compliance
administrative policy adopted by the City Administrator in accordance with the Section
9:158 of the Ann Arbor City Code. Breach of the obligation not to discriminate as
outlined in Attachment B shall be a material breach of the contract. Contractors are
required to post a copy of Ann Arbor's Non-Discrimination Ordinance attached at all
work locations where its employees provide services under a contract with the City.
J. WAGE REQUIREMENTS
The Attachments provided herein outline the requirements for payment of prevailing
wages or of a "living wage" to employees providing service to the City under this
contract. The successful offeror must comply with all applicable requirements and
provide documentary proof of compliance when requested.
K. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURE
The City of Ann Arbor Purchasing Policy requires that the consultant complete a
Conflict of Interest Disclosure form. A contract may not be awarded to the selected
offeror unless and until the Procurement Unit and the City Administrator have
reviewed the Disclosure form and determined that no conflict exists under applicable
federal, state, or local law or administrative regulation. Not every relationship or
situation disclosed on the Disclosure Form may be a disqualifying conflict. Depending
on applicable law and regulations, some contracts may awarded on the
recommendation of the City Administrator after full disclosure, where such action is
allowed by law, if demonstrated competitive pricing exists and/or it is determined the
award is in the best interest of the City. A copy of the Conflict of Interest Disclosure
Form is attached.
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L. COST LIABILITY
The City of Ann Arbor assumes no responsibility or liability for costs incurred by the
offeror prior to the execution of a Professional Services Agreement. The liability of
the City is limited to the terms and conditions outlined in the Agreement. By submitting
a proposal, offeror agrees to bear all costs incurred or related to the preparation,
submission, and selection process for the proposal.
M. DEBARMENT
Submission of a proposal in response to this RFP is certification that the Respondent
is not currently debarred, suspended, proposed for debarment, and declared ineligible
or voluntarily excluded from participation in this transaction by any State or Federal
departments or agency. Submission is also agreement that the City will be notified of
any changes in this status.
N. PROPOSAL PROTEST
All protests must be in writing and filed with the Purchasing Agent within 5 business
days of any notices of intent, including, but not exclusively, divisions on pre-
qualification of bidders, shortlisting of bidders, or a notice of intent to award a contract.
Only bidders who responded to the solicitation may file a bid protest. The offeror must
clearly state the reasons for the protest. If an offeror contacts a City Service Area/Unit
and indicates a desire to protest an award, the Service Area/Unit shall refer the offeror
to the Purchasing Manager. The Purchasing Manager will provide the offeror with the
appropriate instructions for filing the protest. The protest shall be reviewed by the City
Administrator or designee, whose decision shall be final.
Any inquiries or requests regarding this procurement should be only submitted in
writing to the Designated City Contacts provided herein. Attempts by the offeror to
initiate contact with anyone other than the Designated City Contacts provided herein
that the offeror believes can influence the procurement decision, e.g., Elected
Officials, City Administrator, Selection Committee Members, Appointed Committee
Members, etc., may lead to immediate elimination from further consideration.
O. SCHEDULE
The proposals submitted should define an appropriate schedule in accordance with
the requirements of the Proposed Work Plan in Section III.
The following is the schedule for this RFP process.
Activity/Event Anticipated Date
Written Question Deadline October 1, 2026, 10:00 a.m.
Addenda Published (if needed) Week of October 12, 2026
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Proposal Due Date October 28, 2026, 2:00 p.m. (local time)
Tentative Interviews (if needed) Week of November 9, 2026
Selection/Negotiations December 2026
Expected City Council Authorizations December 2026
The above schedule is for information purposes only and is subject to change at the
City's discretion.
P. IRS FORM W-9
The selected offeror will be required to provide the City of Ann Arbor an IRS form W-
9.
Q. RESERVATION OF RIGHTS
1. The City reserves the right in its sole and absolute discretion to accept or reject
any or all proposals, or alternative proposals, in whole or in part, with or without
cause.
2. The City reserves the right to waive, or not waive, informalities or irregularities in
of any proposal if determined by the City to be in its best interest.
3. The City reserves the right to request additional information from any or all offerors.
4. The City reserves the right to reject any proposal that it determines to be
unresponsive and deficient in any of the information requested within RFP.
5. The City reserves the right to determine whether the scope of the project will be
entirely as described in the RFP, a portion of the scope, or a revised scope be
implemented.
6. The City reserves the right to select one or more consultants to perform services.
7. The City reserves the right to retain all proposals submitted and to use any ideas
in a proposal regardless of whether that proposal is selected. Submission of a
proposal indicates acceptance by the firm of the conditions contained in this RFP,
unless clearly and specifically noted in the proposal submitted.
8. The City reserves the right to disqualify proposals that fail to respond to any
requirements outlined in the RFP, or failure to enclose copies of the required
documents outlined within RFP.
R. ENVIRONMENTAL COMMITMENT
The City of Ann Arbor recognizes its responsibility to minimize negative impacts on
human health and the environment while supporting a vibrant community and
economy. The City further recognizes that the products and services the City buys
have inherent environmental and economic impacts and that the City should make
procurement decisions that embody, promote and encourage the City's commitment
to the environment.
The City strongly encourages potential vendors to bring forward tested, emerging,
innovative, and environmentally preferable products and services that are best suited
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to the City's environmental principles. This includes products and services such as
those with lower greenhouse gas emissions, high recycled content, without toxic
substances, those with high reusability or recyclability, those that reduce the
consumption of virgin materials, and those with low energy intensity.
As part of its environmental commitment, the City reserves the right to award a
contract to the most responsive and responsible bidder, which includes bids that bring
forward products or services that help advance the City's environmental commitment.
In addition, the City reserves the right to request that all vendors report their annual
greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, miles traveled, or other relevant
criteria in order to help the City more fully understand the environmental impact of its
procurement decisions.
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SECTION II - SCOPE OF SERVICES
1. Background
The City of Ann Arbor has employed the services of a lobbyist for at least the last
two decades. In 2022, we added a federal component to our state lobbying
efforts. The state and federal components of our lobbying efforts may be
provided by the same firm. However, the City is committed to procuring the
highest quality firms for the work, and so we may award more than one contract
to meet the City's needs.
2. Objective
The City of Ann Arbor is seeking the services of an agency or agencies to help
coordinate and assist with lobbying activities at the state and/or federal level. The
agency or agencies selected will provide intelligence and analysis regarding legislative
policy changes that may affect the City; executive regulatory and enforcement actions
that may affect the City; help plan and advise on policy initiatives that require the
approval of state or federal appointed or elected officials; provide networking and
engagement opportunities for the City; and other related activities. The agency or
agencies selected will work at the direction of the City Administrator and will work
cooperatively with the city's elected leadership to pursue the adopted policy agenda
of the City Council.
3. Requirements
* Develop and maintain relationships with elected and appointed members of
state/federal government, and other governmental partners key to advancing
the city's interests;
* Monitor federal/state legislative and regulatory issues with potential impact to
the City of Ann Arbor; consult and advise on these issues as needed with city
leadership;
* Provide assistance in development and implementation of a government
relations plan to support the City's policy goals, including but not limited to:
Organizing lobbying days for city leadership in Lansing/Washington
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DC;
Facilitating meetings with executive and legislative leaders in
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Lansing/Washington DC on an as needed basis;
Advising city leadership of important events and opportunities for
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networking with other government leaders.
At least annually meet with senior City staff leadership to become
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familiar with operational issues and policy obstacles that could be
aided by policy changes at the state or federal level.
* Represent and advocate for the City on specific projects, issues, funding
opportunities and legislation.
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