Policy Advocacy essay

SOW 4232

This class will focus on lobbying and the use of

testimony in advocacy efforts.

Let’s focus on lobbying first, since it’s important to

understand what this is and how it works. The first

step in this effort should be to understand the rules

of lobbying. Then we will go over the tasks of

lobbying. We will also look at the issues of writing

legislative alerts, handling face to face meetings

with your legislator, and producing public

messages- like letters and editorials, as well as

giving testimony.

Lobbying Rules and Restrictions

Lobbying is the act of representing a particular interest and working to

impact policy proposals. There are some restrictions on lobbying. State

dollars cannot be used to fund a lobbyist position. So, if you are a lobbyist

for a private non-profit agency that receives state dollars through a grant,

your position has to be funded by other means (such as fundraising). Just to

be clear - State employees are absolutely allowed to contact legislators.

State employers cannot prohibit their employees from lobbying. However,

state employees are not allowed to lobby during work hours and they are

not allowed to use state equipment, such as a work phone or a work

computer, to lobby. For example, as a state employee (faculty at UCF), I am

allowed to get politically involved as a private citizen, as long as I am clear

that I am acting as a private citizen. I cannot use my office, work phone, or

work computer to send political emails or other lobbying related materials. I

can, however, use my real name, and disclose my employer if asked. I

cannot at any time imply that I represent my organization or use any tools

provided by my state employer. This does not mean that either UCF or

faculty at UCF are not allowed to share information with our community, or

are not allowed to have opinions- we most certainly are allowed to have

opinions, and to share them. The line is at lobbying or working to influence

political activity.

Lobbyists are required to register with state or local government (whichever

level they are lobbying). The link below describes the registration rules for

Florida.

http://www.leg.state.fl.us/Lobbyist/index.cfm?Mode=Forms&Submenu=4&T

ab=lobbyist&CFID=70281020&CFTOKEN=77308103

Lobbyists must report expenditures (money that they spend), such as gifts

to legislators. Note that this can include something as small as meals, or

even flowers.

Lobbyists can be either individuals or groups.

Top 10 Lobbying Groups in 2016 Total

US Chamber of Commerce $52,320,000

National Assn of Realtors $21,417,467

Blue Cross/Blue Shield $12,077,994

Pharmaceutical Rsrch & Mfrs of America $11,825,000

American Medical Assn $11,275,000 American Hospital Assn $10,917,793

Boeing Co $9,230,000

AT&T Inc $8,550,000

National Assn of Broadcasters $8,348,000

Business Roundtable $8,060,000 Data courtesy of Center for Responsive Politics

Lobbyists’ Tasks

Lobbyists follow bills through the process. Their job includes a number of

things related to how policy ideas become law. Note that the tasks vary

widely – writing bills, analyzing bills, tracking bills, and lobbying legislators

and the Governor’s Office throughout the process.

 Writing bills and requesting legislators’ sponsorship (this is required to

get a bill in the ‘pipeline’).

 Analyzing bills from the perspective of the lobbyist’s clientele (the

person or group who is hiring her/him).

 Tracking bills through the legislative process.

 Petitioning committee chairs to either schedule or not schedule a bill to

be heard.

 Petitioning committee members to vote yes or no on a bill.

 Encouraging members of the Senate or House to vote yes or no on a

bill.

 Convincing the Governor’s Office to sign or veto a bill passed by the

Legislature.

Lobbyists also have tasks outside of the legislative arena. They must

communicate with the group they represent. For social workers, this

generally includes other social workers, agency board members, and clients

– whatever groups are included in their legislative network. They must

educate these groups about the bills, keep them updated on the status of

the bills, send out legislative alerts requesting their participation in lobbying,

and educate these groups about bills that have passed and now must be

implemented. Think about the NASW lobbyists, for example, and the

presentations and materials that you have seen or received from that office.

The Florida NASW office sends out summaries of bills and issues that are of

interest to social workers in our state; they provided us with bullet pointed

talking point sheets and summaries of issues at LEAD, and the national office

produces a policy document called Social Work Speaks annually, which

contains policy positions of the NASW on important issues in the nation. The

national Council for Social Work Education (CSWE) also sends out legislative

alerts- for example, they recently sent out an action request to contact our

legislators about renewal of the social work education act at the federal

level- the bill that mandates inclusion of social workers in certain healthcare

arenas and funds training grants and educational programs across the country.

Legislative Alerts

The legislative alert is a key advocacy tool for those in the social work field.

Big business is often able to accomplish its legislative goals through contacts

with powerful friends of legislators. Private non-profit agencies often do not

have this same access and thus, must rely on the power of many small

voices united together. The legislative alert is usually the mode through

which these voices are brought together.

A good legislative alert should list the bill number, the reasons why the bill is

bad or good, the name and contact info of the legislators you want the

recipients to call, and the action requested from the legislator. For example

– “Please call Senator Doe at XXX-XXX-XXXX and ask her to vote no on

Senate Bill 52, because it weakens the ability of the child protection system

to help abused children. Alternatively, we have attached an email template if

you wish to email her about this issue.”

These legislative alerts should be brief and easy to read. They should be no

longer than one page in length and should resemble a flyer.

There are several mistakes that can be made in creating legislative alerts.

You have to tell the recipients who to call. They are often busy people who

do not have time to look up legislators and their contact information. If you

are asking readers to call the chair or members of a particular committee, do

not give them the phone number of the committee. The only people who sit

in the committee office are analysts. They do not vote on the bill. You must

give readers the phone numbers for the offices of legislators, not the offices

of committee analysts. Also, it is a mistake to tell recipients to call their

local representatives, unless the bill is in its final stages and will soon be

before the full House or full Senate. Otherwise, the recipient contacts

someone who may have absolutely no power to do anything regarding this

bill. If the bill is scheduled to be heard by the Judiciary Committee, the

recipients need to contact members of the Judiciary Committee. If the

recipient’s local Representative or Senator is not on the Judiciary Committee,

it is a wasted call. It is also a mistake to not tell the recipients what to say.

They are often nervous and need support in knowing what to say in the

correspondence. Other mistakes include referring to a Senator as

Representative or vice versa, referring to a Senator or Representative as

Congressman or Congresswoman, using the incorrect pronouns for Senators

and Representatives (referring to a female legislator as he), and using the

term statue rather than statute.

There are also several myths that you should tackle

in communicating with your network. The recipient

will probably not speak directly to the legislator. That’s

okay – legislators usually don’t speak directly to callers unless

they are very powerful or well known or personally known. The

recipient does not need to know much about the bill before calling. It is

very rare that the legislator’s office will ask the caller anything. Lastly, some

people believe it has no impact to leave a phone message. This is not true.

In the morning and throughout the day, the secretary will keep a running

tab of those who called for and against each bill and then report this tab to

the legislator or legislator’s staff. The more calls, the better.

Contact with Legislators

As mentioned before, one of the tasks of the lobbyist is to have contact with

legislators. This can be done through various venues – in person, through

phone, or through letters. Regardless of venue, it is important to follow

these guidelines: Always be courteous and respectful. That doesn’t mean that you can’t

respectfully disagree. You might use language such as “We are concerned

about the impact of this bill” and “We were disappointed by the vote.” Never threaten them. Never say if you vote this way, you will lose your seat.

First, you don’t have the power to manifest that consequence. And second,

this person may be a possible ally on another bill and you don’t want to

sabotage your relationship over this one issue. Similar to what you would do when you give testimony to a committee, state

your position and request a particular action, whether that involves voting a

particular way or scheduling a particular bill for a hearing.

Choosing the Correct Venue

As stated above, lobbying directed at the wrong venue is wasted effort. You

should not approach legislators or direct others to approach legislators who

are not in the direct path of a bill. If a bill has been referred to a committee

but has not yet been scheduled for a vote, contact the committee chair.

Note, however, that bills must proceed in the order of committees to which

they were referred. They cannot skip over committees. So, you must target

the current committee where the bill sits. If the bill has been scheduled for a

committee hearing, then you should contact or tell others to contact all

members of the committee. If the bill has passed through all committees,

then you should contact or tell others to contact all members of that

particular chamber (the full House or full Senate). If the bill has passed

through all committees and through the full House or Senate, you would

then switch to the other chamber (switch to advocating for the companion

bill in the other chamber). Once both bills have passed through the full

House and full Senate, then you would contact or tell others to contact the

Governor’s Office.

Once the bill has passed or died, then you would contact the sponsors and

thank them for their work on behalf of the bill (assuming that you are not

opposing the bill).

Take a look at the video from Schoolhouse Rock for information regarding

the path of the bill. You can find that classic (and fun!) video under Modules

in Canvas, and in the top module for miscellaneous materials. Your advocacy

should match the path of the bill.

Influencing the Policy Environment

Lobbyists/Advocates can also

influence the policy environment

through public messages.

Generally, this is done through

newspaper editorials and

television or radio ads. Editorials

can be written directly by the

lobbyist, or members of the lobbyist’s network can reproduce material from

the lobbyist’s fact sheets when writing an editorial. Powerful members of an

agency’s board might be the best ones to author these editorials, but they

often seek help from lobbyists related to their organization to have the best

available information and impact. In this venue, it’s good to have someone

plagiarize your material. It means your message is getting out there. You

may have also seen television ads or heard radio ads that advance a

particular position on a bill. Private non-profit agencies hardly ever use tv or

radio ads, because they are costly. Remember that this is not the same

thing as a public service announcement (PSA), which is usually free. PSAs

are free opportunities to advertise your agency’s services and communicate

messages specific to your agency’s program. They are not opportunities to

advance political messages. Political messages require funds to run on tv or

radio.

Testifying Before Legislative Committees Similar to lobbying is the skill set of testifying before legislative committees.

Let’s focus now on the use of testimony in advocacy efforts.

First, we will discuss the purpose of testimony – why we engage in this task.

We will also focus on the process of testimony – how to register for and

deliver testimony. You’ll also learn about the elements of testimony and

how to construct a script. Finally, we’ll consider the clients’ role in testimony

and the advantages and disadvantages of including them in this role.

Testimony’s Impact The reality is that testimony rarely makes a difference in terms of the vote

for a particular bill. Senators and Representatives do not suddenly change

their decision because of testimony at a committee meeting, although it has

been known to happen with particularly compelling testimony, especially

when the vote is tabled for another day. They often enter the meeting

knowing how they will vote. And if not, they generally will vote with others in

their party. So, why should you present testimony? While Senators and

Representatives may already know how they are going to vote, they

appreciate public testimony that supports their positions, and this can be

useful to them in advancing further legislation. Or on the opposite side, the

legislators know that if they don’t vote your way, they at least won’t be able

to do this in secret. Delivering testimony will show everyone that you are

serious about your agency’s agenda and that you will work and use your

voice on behalf of that agenda. It provides some measure of public

accountability and visibility to the legislators, who have to hold a position

that responds to the statements made by the public.

So, this is the primary reason to provide testimony. The Process of Providing Testimony

Let’s move on to the process of providing testimony. Testimony occurs in

legislative committees. The process varies slightly based on the venue. On

the state level, those providing testimony will fill out a card, submit this card

to the committee staff, and deliver brief testimony when called on by the

chair. This testimony is usually no more than a few minutes in length-

maybe 5-10 minutes. The national level is more formal. Testimony is

arranged before the Congressional committee meeting commences and is

rather lengthy in these forums.

One social work researcher developed a list of items that should be included

in testimony:

 Those providing testimony should introduce themselves and the agencies

they represent or note any particularly noteworthy reasons that they are

qualified to testify on this topic.

 They should express appreciation for the opportunity to present.

 They should summarize their position and the issues inherent in the

policy.

 Finally, they should request a particular option (either a yes vote, no

vote, or some other alterative such as yes vote with an amendment).

 And they should conclude with a statement that they are available to

provide any material or information that the committee so desires.

 Also, remember during this event that you should address a male chair as

Mr. Chairman and a female chair as Madame Chair. All other committee

members should be addressed as either Senator or Representative.

Note that testimony should be delivered in the order described above.

Legislators want to know from the very beginning: your name, the name of

the entity you represent, and your position. In your testimony, do not build

up to your position. State your position and then defend it. Be respectful –

thank them at the beginning and the end of any interaction (whether you

are providing testimony or meeting them individually): “Thank you for this

opportunity to provide testimony.” “Thank you for your time and

consideration.”

Examples of Testimony Here are two examples of testimony for Federal Congressional Committee

hearings.

Click on the first link, which features prepared testimony from the Child

Welfare League of America before the House Subcommittee on Income

Security and Family Support. http://www.cwla.org/cwla-testimony-to-the-

house-subcommittee-on-income-security-and-family-support-for-the-

hearing-on-racial-disproportionality-in-foster-care/

Note that this script includes some of the items from the list that I gave you

above.

Click on the second link, which features prepared testimony from the

Veterans Health Administration before the Committee on Veterans’ Affairs

Subcommittee on Health.

http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/hvac/sh/080311AZ.asp

This script is different from the first one. This presentation is more of an

agency status report than an advocacy piece. Some of the difference in tone

is likely due to the nature of the author. Governmental entities are not

allowed to lobby, so the testimony provided by these entities will sound

more technical than the language from an advocate such as the Child

Welfare League of America.

Clients’ Role in Providing Testimony

Let’s look at client participation in testimony. You may one day have a client

who delivers testimony before a legislative committee. There are some pros

and cons to this situation. Clients sometimes benefit from this experience.

They may feel like they turned a bad experience into something with

meaning and purpose – that their situation could contribute to some positive

change in the world. It can also help clients who want to break the silence

and speak out about their experiences. On the other hand, there are also

potential negative outcomes that can arise from this process. The legislature

is not filled with sensitive people; legislators and their staff can be rude and

disrespectful, or unintentionally disempowering. It’s not a safe environment

for a vulnerable client. Additionally, clients can feel great pain and

disempowerment if their cause fails.

Social Workers’ Role in Supporting Client Participation

Social workers can support clients who decide to become engaged in this

process. First and foremost, work as an empowering agent – support the

client’s choice. Do not push one way or the other. Additionally, you should

help prepare the client – preparation for the delivery of the testimony, the

response of legislators and onlookers, and the legislative outcome. With

these supports and the opportunity to practice ahead of time, the client’s

experience is more likely to be a positive one.

Sir Elton John & Pastor Rick Warren testify before Congress on behalf of the AIDS Foundation. Photo by Getty images.