Former Rep. Louis Stokes (D-Ohio) of Squire, Sanders & Dempsey last week notified Congress that he is lobbying on behalf of Cleveland State University, marking the second time in July that the lobbyist filed paperwork to disclose a new client.
Stokes, who was in the House from 1968 to 1998, informed Congress July 20 that he is representing Cleveland-based general contractor McTech Corp. on federal construction contracts. According to the July 29 registration report for Cleveland State University, Stokes is focusing his lobbying for the college on student assistance and program funding from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cleveland State University has undergraduate and postgraduate programs designed to prepare students for medical school. Stokes, a Squire Sanders senior counsel, said his advocacy on behalf of the university is aimed at helping its efforts to increase the number of certain doctors, including primary-care physicians. He said students often do not pursue primary-care careers because of the field’s low salaries.
“They have what I think is a great program,” Stokes said. “They have designed a program that gets at the primary care crisis that most major cities are facing today.”
Cleveland State University also uses MWW Group to lobby on its behalf. According to congressional records, the university paid the lobbying and government relations firm $30,000 from April 1 to June 30 to advocate for congressional appropriations.
The college utilized The CJR Group for its lobbying needs from 2004 to 2010. According to congressional records, Cleveland State University gave the lobbying and government relations firm $110,000 to advocate on higher education matters.
Cleveland State University announced in April that it received $1.78 million from the National Institutes of Health to investigate African sleeping sickness, a disease akin to malaria. The college last year also obtained $3 million in grants from the Department of Health and Human Services agency to create anti-inflammatory and anticoagulant drugs.
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