Halyard builds the case, the coalition, and the pressure that move a decision in appropriations, rulemaking, state legislatures, and on the ballot. Small teams, senior people, and an honest read before the fight starts.
See the index of work
State budget · Coalition · 2026
A state ferry subsidy was about to be cut in a budget nobody had read closely. We found the people who depended on it, put them in front of the committee, and rewrote the fiscal note.
Appropriations · 2025
First-ever dedicated funding, written into the committee report and carried into conference.
Ballot measure · 2024
A statewide measure defeated by nine points after trailing by six in the first poll.
Rulemaking · 2024
Eleven hundred comments, one technical fix, and a compliance deadline moved by eighteen months.
Crisis · 2023
One spokesperson, one message, one source of truth, until the story moved on and the client was still standing.
Research, the fiscal argument, the one-page version a staffer can repeat, and the longer one a reporter can check. If the facts are not on our side we tell you before anyone else does.
The employers, mayors, patients, growers, and unions who are affected and have not been asked. We find them, organize them, and put them where the decision is made.
Appropriations, rulemaking, a state house, a ballot. Direct advocacy, earned media, paid where it counts, and a calendar that works backward from the vote.
Crisis and litigation communications for the weeks when the story is about you. One spokesperson, one message, one source of truth.
| Campaign | Arena | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Keeping the ferry running | State budget | 2026 | $41M restored, four-year authorization, a coalition that still meets |
| A line item for rural broadband maintenance | Appropriations | 2025 | First dedicated funding, carried through conference |
| No on 14 | Ballot measure | 2024 | Defeated by nine points after trailing by six |
| Rewriting a reporting rule before it was final | Rulemaking | 2024 | Technical fix adopted, compliance deadline moved eighteen months |
| Six weeks on the front page | Crisis | 2023 | Client intact, CEO retained, no regulatory action |
| A procurement protest that did not need filing | Procurement | 2023 | Award corrected after one meeting and one letter |
| Hospital district merger | State legislature | 2022 | Enabling bill passed both chambers unanimously |
The argument comes first. We do not start with tactics. We start with the sentence a decision-maker would have to believe, and work out whether it is true and who can say it. If that sentence does not exist, no amount of outreach will produce it, and we will tell you so.
Small teams, senior people. Three or four people on an engagement, every one of them someone you would want in the room. Partners stay on the account from the first call to the vote. No one learns on your campaign.
We say what we think. Including when the answer is that the fight is not winnable this year, or that the client is on the wrong side of the facts. You will hear it from us before you hear it from the committee.
The calendar runs backward. From the vote, the comment deadline, or the election, back to today. Every week has a job. If a week has no job, we are not charging you for it.
Founding partner. Appropriations. Twelve years on House committee staff before Halyard.
Partner. Coalitions and state campaigns. Ran field in three statewide races.
Partner. Rulemaking and the technical argument. Former agency counsel.
Principal. Crisis and litigation communications. Former wire reporter.
Principal. Ballot measures and paid media. Managed two statewide campaigns.
Principal. Research and the fiscal note. Former legislative fiscal analyst.
Most state fights are decided by a two-page document nobody outside the building reads. How to read it, and how to change it.
Not a logo list. A coalition exists to put a specific person in a specific room on a specific day. Everything else is a newsletter.
The rule is already being rewritten while the comment period runs. If your technical fix is not in the first wave, it is not in the rule.
One paragraph on the decision, the deadline, and who is on the other side. A partner reads every note and replies within a day, including when the honest answer is no.
