Communicating with Legislators

Communicating with State Officials
Adapted from: “Advocacy in Action: Training for Legislative Day”

By Dr. Julie Beth Todaro

You want to advocate for libraries because:

You care about your community.
You value libraries.
You support libraries.
You support libraries in your community.
You know you have something to contribute to the "process" of speaking out and telling others about your values and beliefs.

Advocates contribute so much to the process of informing elected officials. You, as constituents and advocates, can identify the key issues in your community and can present them with a view to the potential impact of legislative action or inaction.

When and "how" to talk:

In determining when and how to talk to elected officials, the two most important things are to match the message to the legislator. In other words, make that contact personal and meaningful.

What general words/phrases do legislators hear and recognize?
What are the current hot topics?
What might you hear?

Urban, rural issues
Voters and taxpayers (avoid citizens)
Sustainability
Leverage
Community Impact
Economic Impact/Economic Issues
Stable Revenue
Political Implications
Economic Fallout
Impact of Initiative

E-government/E-issues
Economic Development
Social Fabric
County ranking
City ranking
Census data indicates…
Our community strategic plans indicate…
Economic and efficient expenditures
Partnerships/collaboration
Social Entrepreneur "ship"

What should you avoid?

Terms such as cost savings…answering the question "if you want this money, where should we get it/who should we take it away from?"…answering the question "How will we pay for xxx if we give you this money?"…promises such as "this is our last request…" or "all we need is… and don’t characterize your library as "all new" or "completely new" as many people are leery of our new role vs our traditional role. We don't have time to talk about what we really do- which is balance - so don’t bring up the topic at all.

What should you make an effort to do?

Work with staff as much or more than you work with legislator.
Keep on issues/avoid reminiscences about home/individuals that use up your time!
Summarize where you already "are" or what strides libraries have made/beginnings.
Emphasize specific impact (names and numbers) on local community members through numbers or through telling a story.
Stress you are striving to achieve a balance of resources and services in order to serve all community members.
Outline what you have achieved in terms of sustainability for current tech issues.
Relate to legislators' interests - stress impact
Refer to their legislation/issues/website content/issues/values indicated/who you know who they know
Leave them with a specific task or responsibility such as "vote for," "partner with," author/co-author, support (and say "how,") and "speak with x about y."
Leave them with the TLA packet of information that has talking points/executive summaries.
Follow up…Letter? Email? Phone call? In Austin and at home? They needed questions answered more information? Who's going to get it and when?
Practice both positive and negative messages - that is role play what you want to say and practice answering the difficult questions
Practice techniques for bridging the conversation, changing the subject, broaching difficult subjects, and focusing on the message.
As preparation for your visit, help identify who has what communication style, who should speak, in what order people should speak, and what talking points each should address.

Know Your Region

¨ Outline past issues/successes/failures for the library/legislative process

What did libraries ask for in the last session?
Did my area ask for anything in the last session? In general? Related to libraries?
What are our successes?
What were our failures?
What have we dropped?
What are we bringing up again?

¨ Identify key elements of your community

Community size as it relates to library users (introduce new data)
Community issues in general (income levels/education levels)
Community issues relating to libraries (literacy levels, users, increases, the "unique")
Community timelines
Individual timelines

Know Your Legislator

Name/family names, years of service, party, legislative committees
Position on issues, past votes, supporters/endorsers/donors/opponents
Web information
Special group or individual connection to libraries?

Legislative Day
GOVT AFFAIRS HOME