Greenlee Partners, LLC is a lobbying firm in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; (Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, Ma ...

, possibly best known for representing the

City of Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's second-most populous county, following Philadelphia C ...

Firm history

Greenlee Associates was founded in 1980 by

Bill Greenlee William D. "Bill" Greenlee (February 1, 1938 – September 30, 2010) was an American lobbyist based in Pennsylvania. Greenlee first worked on political campaigns with William Scranton's 1962 campaign for Pennsylvania Governor. He worked on the sta ...

, later changing its name to "Greenlee Partners" when

Stan Rapp Stanley I. Rapp is a prominent lobbyist in Pennsylvania, where he is a partner with the Greenlee Partners lobbying firm, which is the "pre-eminent power player in Harrisburg politics." He is considered the "dean of Harrisburg lobbyists." He earn ...

took charge in 2000. The firm is headquartered in

Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg is the capital city of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,135 as of the 2021 census, Harrisburg is the 9th largest city and 15th largest municipality in P ...

, but represents clients all throughout

and

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

The firm and its lobbyists were known for their connections to

Pennsylvania Governor The governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is the head of state and head of government of the U.S. state, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, as well as commander-in-chief of the Commonwealth's military forces. The governor has a duty to enfo ...

Tom Ridge's administration. The firm produces a daily newsletter called “Harrisburg: ONLINE”, consisting of local, state, and national political activities with witty quip all throughout. In a 2002 article about the surprise resignation of Representative John E. Barley, the political analysis from Harrisburg: ONLINE was quoted in the '' Sunday News'' of

Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster, ( ; pdc, Lengeschder) is a city in and the county seat of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It is one of the oldest inland cities in the United States. With a population at the 2020 census of 58,039, it ranks 11th in population among ...

. In 2009, the ''Pennsylvania Report'' called Greenlee Partners "the gold-standard" of lobbying firms in Pennsylvania. In a 1997 article about Pittsburgh Power & Light's lobbying presence in Harrisburg, the ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the All ...

'' called Greenlee Partners a "powerhouse firm." The same description was used in another 1997 article about a charitable event hosted by members of the Harrisburg lobbying community. In a 1998 article about alleged "

astroturf AstroTurf is an American subsidiary of SportGroup that produces artificial turf for playing surfaces in sports. The original AstroTurf product was a short-pile synthetic turf invented in 1965 by Monsanto. Since the early 2000s, AstroTurf has ...

" lobbying efforts by

AlliedSignal AlliedSignal was an American aerospace, automotive and engineering company created through the 1985 merger of Allied Corp. and Signal Companies. It subsequently purchased Honeywell for $14.8 billion in 1999, and thereafter adopted the Honeywell ...

, ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Penns ...

'' called Greenlee "one of the capital's most visible lobbying firms." In a 1998 article about Greenlee's lobbying on behalf of the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Stee ...

and

Pittsburgh Pirates The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division. Founded as part o ...

, the ''

called Greenlee "one of the best-known firms in Harrisburg." The

Dan Onorato Daniel Onorato (born February 5, 1961) is an American Democratic politician from the state of Pennsylvania. He served as the chief executive of Allegheny County from 2004 to 2012, and in 2010, he was the Democratic nominee for governor. He lost to ...

administration credits Greenlee Partners with a "20-fold" return in the form of appropriations for a widening project on

Pennsylvania Route 28 Pennsylvania Route 28 (PA 28) is a major state highway which runs for from Anderson Street in Pittsburgh to U.S. Route 219 (US 219) in Brockway in Pennsylvania. From Pittsburgh to Kittanning it is a limited access expressway named the A ...

, as well as a

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

and security cameras at

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit, Duquesne first opened as the Pitts ...

. Greenlee Partners has been a community publisher to TheBurg News since its inception in 2009, advocating for lobbying reform and financial disclosure reform.

Lobbying activities and issues

After the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

was taken over by the Republicans in the 1990s, the

hired Greenlee Partners to lobby the House on its behalf. Under that lobbying contract, Greenlee Partners was instrumental in passing a rental-car tax that helped fund Philadelphia's new stadiums, the airport expansion funding, and the one percent hotel tax that fuels the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation. In 2008, the ''

Pittsburgh Tribune-Review The ''Pittsburgh Tribune-Review'', also known as "the Trib," is the second largest daily newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Although it transitioned to an all-digital format on December 1, 2016, it rema ...

'' questioned the necessity of the Port Authority of Allegheny County's lobbying contract with Greenlee Partners and raised questions about the propriety of Greenlee's relationship with House Transportation Committee Chairman

Rick Geist Richard A. "Rick" Geist (November 21, 1944 – August 29, 2019) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 79th District, first elected in 1978. Career Prior to his electio ...

References

{{reflist, 2 Organizations based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Lobbying firms based in Pennsylvania