Veteran Beer Lobbyist Had Low Key But Vital Role
on Major Issues as Behind the Scenes Confidant

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor

February 16, 2010 Longtime Lobbyist to Be Buried at State Cemetery and Honored at Reception at Austin Club Mike McKinney will be laid to rest Saturday at the Texas State Cemetery several blocks from the Capitol where he spent a significant part of his life as one of the Austin lobby's most successful and respected members. The interment will take place immediately following a service that's set for 1:30 p.m. at St. Michael's Church at 1500 N. Capital of Texas Highway. A reception will get under way about 4 p.m. at the Austin Club where McKinney could often be found as someone who'd joined the establishment's board of directors in 1995 before being elected as its president five years ago. McKinney had been a member of the Austin Club - a private downtown restaurant and meeting facility where the lion's share of fundraisers for legislative campaigns are held - for 32 years before he died Wednesday at his home in Austin after a lengthy battle with cancer.

When Bob Bullock faced some of his most difficult political and policy decisions as lieutenant governor, he'd tell his assistants to get Mike McKinney on the phone.

Bullock and McKinney had been friends since they worked together on Preston Smith's staff in the governor's office in the early 1970s - and the longtime lobbyist was one of the people who the crusty Senate leader knew he could trust most for honest and objective advice when times would get tough in the twilight stages of his legendary career.

McKinney - a fixture at the Texas Capitol as a lobbyist for the Wholesale Beer Distributors for more than three decades - died Wednesday after a battle with cancer for the past few years.

McKinney, who was in his mid-60s, passed away at his home in Austin where he'd returned this past weekend after a brief stay in a hospice fully aware that the end was just a few days away. Veteran lobbyist Galt Graydon, who'd also worked for Smith when he was the governor, and WBD lobby partner Tom Spilman were at McKinney's house to bid goodbye at the time he died.

McKinney had been diagnosed with the illness about four years ago - and he managed to keep working despite the disease's steady progression and the side effects of chemotherapy and other treatment that slowed the invasion.

McKinney was beginning to show signs of decline as he plied his trade at the Capitol last year during the regular and special legislative sessions. But he took a turn for the worse about six months ago, turning most of the heavy lifting at the beer distributors association over to Spilman.

McKinney was an old school lobbyist who began advocating for his first and final client before the inception and proliferation of hired gun lobbyists and boutique lobbying firms. But state legislators and leaders like Bullock consulted with McKinney on a wide range of the high-level issues from education funding to tax reform.

And while cancer claimed his life, McKinney was a survivor in the rough-and-tumble world of Texas politics where he made the transition from a state dominated by Democrats to one where Republicans are in firm control and will be for the foreseeable future.