After you
lay the foundation for your legislative efforts and assess the political
landscape, your goal is to convince legislators to accept your position.
Some activities, such as proposing legislation or amendments, meeting with
legislators and their staff, and testifying at hearings, occur inside the
halls of the legislature; other actions, such as letter writing, public
demonstrations, and working with the media, are initiated outside the legislature
to build public pressure and urge legislators to come over to your side.
Always coordinate your actions inside and outside of the legislature to
make sure you are consistent and achieve maximum effect.
Write
letters, send faxes and e-mails, and phone legislators back
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Letters are definitely worth the time. Legislators know that each
letter they receive represents several additional constituents who feel
the same way but have not taken the time to write. That’s why, in
addition to writing your own letter, you should get your partners and allies
to write letters as well.
- Be clear and concise. Keep your
letter to one page, at most two, and address only one issue per letter,
if possible. Clearly identify the bill you are writing about and the position
you are urging (vote yes or no). Make two or three of your strongest arguments
for or against the proposed legislation. Remember: Legislators receive many
letters on many different issues; your letter should be easy to read and
understand if you want any chance of grabbing their attention.
- Identify yourself and your constituency.
Say something about who you are and whom you represent; you want the
legislator to understand that you are someone she or he should listen
to. Give an example
of a personal story—preferably from the legislator’s district—that
shows how the bill affects real people and that the problem is not just
an isolated incident. Legislators hear about what’s good and bad
policy all the time; real-life experiences grab their attention.
- Avoid using form letters whenever
possible. Avoid them altogether if you cannot deliver extraordinary
volume. Personal individually signed letters are far more effective.
When you are
soliciting letters from partners and allies, provide a sample with
a request that they use it as a guide to writing a letter in their own
words.
- While letters tend to be most
effective, you can also fax, phone, and e-mail your legislators. Usually,
you use e-mails, faxes and phone calls right before a bill is coming
up
for a vote to remind legislators of the importance of their vote to
you. If you are planning to organize a fax, phone, or e-mail chain, in
which
your partners and allies ask their constituents and supporters to take
action, be sure to provide the contact information for the appropriate
representative
because the most effective contacts are those that come from legislators’ own
constituents. For more on e-mail advocacy see the Internet
Advocacy section.
Face-to-face contact with legislators is key to humanizing the problem,
demonstrating a commitment to solving it, and developing relationships for
the long haul.
- Organize a small, diverse group
of participants, perhaps three to five people. Make sure at least some
of them reside in the legislator’s district.
- Select your best spokespersons
and message. Choose someone who will appeal to the legislators you
are trying to persuade.
- Decide ahead of time how you
will conduct the meeting. Who will introduce the participants? Lead
the meeting? Close the meeting? What materials will you take to leave
with the
legislator at the end of the meeting?
- Get to know legislators’ staff. Legislators
often rely heavily on the advice of key staff members. It is important
to establish a good
relationship with these staff members,
make sure they have adequate information about your legislation, and
try to learn from them any concerns you may need to address to keep your
legislation
moving forward. The staff will be your main point of contact if a legislator
is unavailable or inaccessible.
- For more tips on meeting with
legislators, such as scheduling, preparing for, conducting, and following
up after the meeting, see Tips on Meeting with Your Elected Officials,
available
at http://archive.aclu.org/action/lobby.html, and “Six Practical Tips
on How to Lobby Your Legislator or Elected Official” in Lobbying—the
Basics, available at http://www.democracyctr.org/resources/lobbying.html.
This is not one of those times when you can wing it! Always be prepared
before you give testimony on pending legislation.
- Get a rough vote count of how
legislators are likely to vote before you attend the hearing and try to
find out about outstanding issues and concerns. Having this information
will help you choose the best witnesses, know what points you need to emphasize
in your testimony, and consider amendments you may need to offer or agree
to.
- Choose witnesses who will be
credible and effective. Put together a combination of people directly
affected by the legislation, experts, and individuals and organizations
that represent
legislators’ constituents.
- Write out your testimony in advance
so that it is clear, concise, and persuasive. Include personal stories
whenever possible to show how the issue affects real people. Prepare
a summary of
your testimony for distribution at the hearing to legislators, the
media, and other attendees. Anticipate questions legislators might ask
and plan
how to respond.
- Pack the legislative chambers
with supporters and call the media. Wear buttons, T-shirts, or other
identifying items to show legislators and the media the strength and
presence of your
support in the hearing room.
- Have legislators who support
your cause ask your opponents tough questions and make supportive statements
on your behalf. You could offer to draft a list of questions or key points
that you would like them to cover. Discuss in advance amendments that
may
be offered and the bottom line for any compromises.
Staging
public protests or other public events back
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Consider organizing an event that energizes and mobilizes large numbers
of supporters and captures legislators’—and media—attention.
- Public protests can sometimes
turn up the heat on lawmakers to vote your way or at least think twice
about siding with the opposition.
- Holding a Lobby Day is an opportunity
to mobilize large numbers of people to meet with multiple legislators
in one day to show your legislative power and gain media attention. The
day
usually begins with training in lobbying skills and a teach-in on your
issues, followed perhaps by a rally and news interviews, a couple of
hours of meetings
with legislators, and an end-of-day debriefing session for supporters.
Ignite
Public Scrutiny back to
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Elected officials care about their public image. They want to be portrayed
favorably in the news. Develop a media strategy around your legislation
that includes news conferences, letters to the editor, writing opinion
editorials, or other media strategies that will put your issue in the
public eye, maintain
public scrutiny throughout the legislative process, provide a vehicle for
keeping pressure on elected officials, turn up the heat on those who are
against you, and applaud those who stick with you. For more tips on developing
a media strategy see the Media
Advocacy section.
Lobbying campaigns rarely come to a definitive end.
- If your proposed legislation
is defeated, there is frequently another opportunity to reintroduce
it. Don’t be discouraged. Often it takes several tries to pass
a measure, especially one that seeks to bring about an important change.
- If you win, do not get complacent.
Monitor implementation and make sure your legislation is fully funded.
Look out for opposition attempts to undo or diminish your victory by
trying to repeal your legislation, filing litigation to overturn it,
or seeking regulations to significantly weaken its implementation.
