Issue date: 4/23/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Nicole Santa Cruz UA lobbyist Greg Fahey has worked with the UA for 24 years holding various responsibilities. His experience at the UA ranges from getting a research infrastructure bill passed in 2003 to overseeing the Budget and Institutional Research Office.

PHOENIX - Greg Fahey is a relationship man.

The UA's main lobbyist and associate vice president for government relations has been in state government for almost as long as some students have been alive.

From higher education to the state's health care system, to the inner workings of the state Legislature, Fahey knows it, and knows it well.

"He is an outstanding communicator. He is an extremely good articulator," said Charlene Ledet, director of the UA's legislative advocacy program, who had worked with Fahey for 11 years. "That, combined with his wit and insight into politics and people and history, have made it a tremendous learning opportunity for me as well as somewhat entertaining."

Clad in a pressed black suit paired with a crisp, sky blue shirt and a maroon-patterned tie, you'd think Fahey, 61, is just another politician roaming the Capitol.

But as he sits outside the Senate building on a cold cement bench and recites the history of his career, complete with months and years, it's hard to disagree with Ledet when she says she has never met anyone with a better memory of what has happened in state government.

He knows the background, and can make it interesting and colorful, but also can provide a perspective of what was happening when and why - and he's funny, she said.

"There are times when we are sitting somewhere and he'll make a comment, and it's really painful to not start laughing," she said.

Fahey started out in state government in 1975 as a research analyst for the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. In the summer of 1983, Fahey left the Senate to become the director of Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System, the state's low-income health care program.

Arizona was the last state to enter into the program, which was experiencing some difficulties because doctors and hospitals alike weren't used to things like processing paperwork and billing, Fahey said.

Continued...

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