LOBBYING Lauren Zajac, MD, MPH Board Member, PSR Pediatric
Environmental Health Fellow, Mount Sinai School of Medicine
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Presentation goals LEGISLATOR BILLLOBBY VISIT
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Why Lobby? Influence specific legislation. Provide in-depth
information on your issue. Convey the views of many constituents.
Learn about what is happening with your issue in this Congress.
Build a relationship with your legislator.
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responsibility Why HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS have a
responsibility to lobby
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Example: Climate Change/Energy Climate Change has serious
environmental and human health impacts. Addressing climate change
includes: Renewable energy Reduce energy use, improve efficiency
Mitigation Other Prevention
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Example: Energy Efficiency Last week, an energy efficiency bill
passed the House of Representatives. A similar bill is in the
Senate right now, in the Energy & Natural Resources Committee.
How are we going to get our Senators to support this important
bill?
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What are the most effective means of influencing legislators?
Congressional staffers say: Visits from constituents Citizen
lobbyists are more effective than professional lobbyists. Phone
calls Individualized emails or letters Computerized letters,
petitions It is not just what you know, but who you know that
counts.
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What you need to know first Probably will meet with a staffer
Call or email the legislative aide who works on your issue Schedule
2 weeks ahead Federal: Members are generally in DC Tue- Thu
Meetings are generally 30 minutes
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What do you need to do to get ready? Better Know a
Congressperson Better Know a District Build your team Formulate a
focused ask Be well informed about your subject Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand D- NY
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Better Know a Legislator: Govtrack www.climat
www.govtrack.us
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Better Know a Legislator: Govtrack
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Better Know a Legislator: LCV
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Activity #1 Go to www.govtrack.us www.govtrack.us Look up your
representative and 2 senators Pick out one legislator and review
some basic information like committees, PACs, bills, voting Click
on the links to OpenSecrets and VoteSmart Think about how they
would vote on energy efficiency or climate change bills Go to
scorecard.lcv.org Review the report card for your representatives
Think about how they would vote on energy efficiency or climate
change bills
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Better Know a Legislator: FCNL Friends Committee on National
Legislation Http://capwiz.com/fconl/directory/congdir.tt
Better Know a Bill Political context of your bill Where is the
bill? Thomas.gov When is the vote? Who is supporting it and why?
Use websites of other groups working on the issue or call them.
League of Conservation Voters PSR, Union of Concerned Scientists
Read about the opposition (ex: Heritage Foundation)
nytimes.com
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Activity #2 Go to thomas.gov Look up the Energy Efficiency
Improvement Act of 2014, which passed the House last week. It is
H.R. 2126. Look up the recently re-introduced Senate bill, which
contains similar provisions to the House bill. It is S. 2074.
Sometimes, there is a delay getting full text of bill posted to
this database. In that case, I go back to google and type the bill
# and sponsor name to find the text.
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Senate Bill 2074
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Tracking the Bill
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Better Know a Bill, Part 2 Do your homework! Which
organizations support this bill? Why? PSR, Energy Efficiency
advocates, Real Estate, Businesses, etc Which organizations oppose
this bill? Why? Better Know your Opponents prepare to respond to
opposition. Heritage Foundation
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Prepare for the meeting Review congressional
websites-especially the sponsors Know your legislators voting
record on this issue
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Developing your A-Team Constituents People member listens to
People impacted by the issue Experts Personal connection Key
constituencies Speak for a larger group within the district
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3 Types of Asks 1 Co-sponsor or support a bill/resolution 2
Sign onto a letter 3 Speak to an issue (on floor, in committee, at
an event, op- ed) 0r. 4 Develop a relationship with a staffer
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Scheduling your meeting Call the district office Email a visit
request-to correct legislative aide Include names of your team
members, issue topic and date range
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Scheduling Request You want to meet in Washington DC with the
Legislative Aide of Senator Rand Paul who works on environmental
issues. Prepare a scheduling request to discuss S.2074 - A bill to
promote energy savings in residential buildings and industry.
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Subject: Request for a Meeting on S. 2074
[email protected][email protected] Dear
Ms. Bovard: I am a constituent of Senator Rand Paul and wish to
meet with you in about two weeks, when I will be in Washington DC
from April 1 st through April 15 th. I would like to discuss Senate
bill S. 2074. I am representing student PSR and the American
Medical Student Association chapters from the University of
Kentucky. I will be joined by Barb Gottlieb of PSR and Dr. Stephen
Colbert of the Better Know a Environmental Disaster Association.
Thank you for your attention to this matter. I look forward to
speaking with you. Sincerely, Your name, phone number, email and
address
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Organize your Meeting Assign roles-choose a leader What
questions to ask the staff? Organize your information Determine who
makes the ask Assign a note-taker Create a one page sheet outlining
your position-offer at the end of the meeting PRACTICE
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At the Meeting Arrive early Introductions Start out positive,
make a connection Find out how much your staffer is familiar with
the issue or their position on your request Treat them with respect
(whether you agree with them or not), follow structure, and say
thank you
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Sample Meeting Introduction Are you familiar with PSR? We are
an organization of health professionals working to protect humanity
from the gravest threats to health and human survival The key
issues we work on are climate change, abolition of nuclear weapons,
clean air and water and safe energy We feel this bill is especially
relevant considering the Presidents commitment to work to reduce
carbon emissions as he mentioned in his Georgetown speech We are
asking for your support on
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Activity: Plan a lobby visit S.2074 - A bill to promote energy
savings in residential buildings and industry.
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S. 2074 Bipartisan co-sponsors Supported by environmentalists,
business, real estate, energy efficiency advocates, etc Estimated
benefits 190,000 jobs by 2030 Cutting CO2 by equivalent of 22
million cars off the road Key Provisions: Tenant Star Efficiency
targets, benchmarking More training and investment in green jobs,
technologies Reduce energy waste in federal buildings/agencies
Streamline government programs for energy efficiency
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Activity: Plan a lobby visit for S. 2074 Better know your
legislator are they a co-sponsor? Likely supporter? Likely
opponent? What is their voting record? What can you thank them for?
(common ground) Better know your bill/issue Arguments for your
position More difficultwhat are the arguments against your
position, and how to respond? Build your A team who are you going
to invite? Formulate your askcosponsor? Support? Provide
information for incremental change?
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After the Meeting Leave a business card and/or your information
(max 1 page) Copy of sign-on letter if appropriate Follow up with a
thank you email (staffer will then save you as a contact) Circle
back the next week or so with a phone call to follow up on action
ask Always leave with some sign of support We want to be a resource
for you
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Whenever the people are well-informed, they can be trusted with
their own government. -Thomas Jefferson