Contacting Congress. Legislative Training Conference 2007 Rebecca Rey, Legislative Assistant

Transcription

1 Contacting Congress Legislative Training Conference 2007 Rebecca Rey, Legislative Assistant

2 The Power of Congress The Constitution created Congress as the Legislative branch the branch with the power to write laws. No laws can govern the nation unless enacted by Congress and approved by the President. Members of the House and Senate introduce, cosponsor, and vote on bills within their chamber. This is not to say that the two chambers operate completely separate from one another.

3 110 th Congress ( ) Congress = Senate + House of Representatives 100 Senators: 49 Democrats, 49 Republicans, 2 Indepedents (Sanders (VT) and Lieberman (CT)). Plus VP Cheney. 435 Representatives; 233 Democrats, 201 Republicans, (1 current vacancy; Norwood) Democrats currently control Congress and all of its Committees in both chambers

4 Congressional Staff Chief of Staff: Leads the office staff and reports directly to the Member of Congress (MC) Legislative Director (LD): Manages the legislative initiatives of the office and usually handles at least some of the MC s Committee work Press Secretary: Manages the MC s media appearances and writes press releases Scheduler: Manages the MC s schedule in Washington and sometimes in the district Legislative Assistant (LA): Handles assigned legislative issues and tracks relevant legislation Health LA, Social Security LA etc. Legislative Correspondent (LC): Writes constituent mail Staff Assistant: Gatekeeper to the office, answers phone and opens and assigns mail requiring a response from the office.

5 Communicating with Congress Ranking of correspondence methods 1. Personal meeting (always the best!) 2. Personal letter or phone call to your MC s on an issue that affects you 3. Personalized (sent through webform) 4. Form letter (either USPS or )

6 Scheduling an Appointment BE FLEXIBLE!! Members must split their time between Washington and the home district. Also, the Democratic Leadership of the 110 th Congress has instituted 5 day work weeks (WOW!) as opposed to 2 or 3 days in the past. MEET WITH STAFF!! The MC will not always be available. Plus, different offices have different policies on constituent and interest group meetings. In general, MC s and their staff prefer to meet with constituents.

7 Scheduling an Appointment If you want to have a meeting in the district, call the district office. If the location is D.C., call the D.C. office. In both cases, when you call, ask to speak with the Scheduler. Explain who you are, the organization or constituency you represent, and why you would like to meet. This information will help the office determine with whom you should meet.

8 Once the meeting is scheduled NARFE members planning to attend the meeting should meet (or at least speak to each other) in advance. Between 3 and 6 members per meeting is appropriate. Pick 3 legislative issues you wish to discuss and stick to those. Plan on only spending 5 minutes per issue. If possible, bring a member who is affected by GPO/WEP (if this is one of the issues you wish to address in the meeting). Gather necessary talking points and issue papers and review the arguments for our top issues. Recall any past experiences with this MC and his office; did he cosponsor any of our bills before? Is he on a critical committee?

9 More on preparation. Consider the timing of your meeting---check to see what sort of issues/bills Congress has been tackling recently. What have people been saying about health care? Social Security? Try to bring relevant, current information into the mix during your meeting. Know the projected cost of each bill you are asking the MC to support. (FYI--GPO/WEP full repeal = $61.9 billion over 10 years. Premium Conversion = $12 billion over 10 years) Be prepared to answer questions on the issues, provide additional materials if requested by the staff. Even if you don t know the answer to a question during the meeting promise to get back to them with an answer, and then do it!

10 Personal Meeting Be on time. If you cannot be on time, call the office to let them know of your delay, or to re-schedule the meeting. Be polite and personable. Being angry, annoyed, or too forceful is a sure way to NOT get the MC s support and/or to be denied a meeting next time. Ask politely if it will be possible to have the Congressman s/congresswoman s support on this issue. Don t be alarmed if a definitive response is not given. This is where following up is critical.. If you are told that the MC will not be able to support NARFE on the issue do not take it personally. MC s lend their support or withhold their support for many different reasons, which the office may or may not share with you.

11 Scenario: The ill-prepared staffer Many MC s know our issues well, but still many do not especially the new MC s. (Think of all of those new Dems in the House just learning the issues!) Don t be discouraged if a staffer isn t already familiar with NARFE s issues, or can t speak authoritatively about the ins and outs of GPO/WEP, or Premium Conversion. Carpe Diem! Seize this opportunity to educate the staffer on our key issues and convince them that our stance is the right one.

12 Scenario: The well-prepared staffer Based on what you already know about the MC, you can gauge or guess how much the staffer may know about NARFE. If the MC has consistently cosponsored our bills in each Congress, the staffer you meet with has a better chance of being familiar with the material. If the MC has been in office for many years, yet has never cosponsored or supported NARFE s key bills, you will need to prepare a convincing argument. Both scenarios meeting with the longtime supporter or the uninterested MC require significant preparation for a successful meeting.

13 Meeting Notes Some helpful information to include in any correspondence with an MC: 1. Representatives from your state have supported federal workers by cosponsoring H.R. 2. of your fellow Republican/Democratic colleagues have taken action in support of this issue. 3. of CSRS annuitants in your state or district. (Info available from Leg. Dept.)

14 Post-Meeting Send a letter thanking the MC or staffer for the meeting. Follow-up on any unanswered questions or issues brought up during the meeting. After a few weeks, call your contact to check on the request you made during the meeting. Alert your contact to important events (introduction of a new bill or a press event); reports (i.e. a GAO report that supports NARFE s position); or any information that might be helpful in persuading your contact to take action in support of NARFE s issues.

15 Letters to Congress In general, all letters concerning legislation should be directed to the D.C. office. Casework directed to district office. Letters to a Senator should be addressed: Dear Senator Letters to a Representative should be addressed: Dear Congressman The envelope to a Representative should read: The Honorable

16 Letters to Congress 1. Be polite yet persuasive 2. Explain at the very beginning of the letter why you are writing and what action you are requesting 3. Personalize your argument why is this important to you??

17 Calling Congress As a constituent, legislative calls should generally be directed to the D.C. office. Don t call if you are angry wait until you feel calm enough to discuss your concerns professionally. Ask to speak with the Legislative Assistant covering the issue you are interested in addressing (the Health or Tax LA for Premium Conversion; Social Security LA for GPO/WEP; Civil Service or Health LA for FEHBP). Be prepared to leave a voic . State your concerns briefly. If you would like a call back be sure to ask for that specifically and leave your name and phone number.

18 ing Congress NARFE s Legislative Action Center ( provides a way for members to their MC s on NARFE issues. Form letters are available, or you can compose your own message. Send s only to your MC---writing as a constituent and voter.

19 Congressional Courtesy Refers to the Capitol Hill policy that each office only responds to correspondences from their own constituency. Example: You live in North Carolina and send a letter to Chairman Waxman (D-CA) on a particular issue. Under the policy of Congressional Courtesy your letter will be forwarded to your own Representative for reply. A sometimes frustrating, but true fact about working with Congress. The primary duty of an MC is to represent his/her constituents therefore, having the opportunity to respond to their legislative concerns is part of this responsibility.

20 How does the structure of Congress affect your efforts? The real work of Congress is done in committee. Committees are panels of the House or Senate created to do the initial review of proposed legislation and to decide which measures are worthy of further consideration by the full House or Senate. Committees also have oversight responsibilities---supervising the programs, agencies, and departments that fall under their jurisdiction. Democrats have emphasized their desire to exercise Congress oversight ability. The House and Senate each have about 20 permanent standing committees. A Representative is assigned to an average of 2 committees; a Senator to an average of 4. Once a bill is introduced by an MC it is assigned to one or more committees of jurisdiction. The assigned committees have complete control over the legislation under their purview they are not required to consider any particular bill. This is why many bills are introduced but eventually languish in committee.

21 More on Committees. Key Committees for NARFE are: House of Representatives Ways and Means Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Jim McCrery (R-LA) Oversight and Government Reform Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Tom Davis (R-VA) Budget John Spratt (D-SC) and Paul Ryan (R-WI) Senate Finance Max Baucus (D-MT) and Charles Grassley (R-IA) Homeland Security and Government Affairs Joe Lieberman (Indep.-CT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) Budget Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Judd Gregg (R-NH)

22 Party Leadership The Leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties play powerful roles in Congress and the overall legislative process. Speaker of the House = Cong. Nancy Pelosi (D- CA) Majority Leader = Cong. Steny Hoyer (D-MD). Majority Whip = Cong. James Clyburn (D-SC) Minority Leader = Cong. John Boehner (R-OH) Minority Whip = Cong. Roy Blunt (R-MO)

23 More on Party Leadership. Majority leaders set the agenda for the Congress this is why which party controls each chamber is so important! And, by what margin? Democrats currently hold a relatively strong margin in the House ( ). In the Senate, their control is not as absolute (51-49) the two Independents caucus with the Democrats.

24 Basic Grassroots Activity Work within your chapter to get the most NARFE members involved. Bring form letters to a chapter meeting so that members can add a personalized message to their MC. Collect and mail them yourself. Supply calling cards with NARFE s toll-free numbers. Hotline message Capitol Hill Remember---NARFE members are their own best advocates!!

25 A step above: Coordinating NARFE chapter/district meetings Can be initiated at the National or Federation level. A date is chosen for various chapters to visit their MC s local district office during a congressional recess. (month of August, Easter/Passover, Memorial, 4 th of July, Labor Day). Call well in advance to set up a meeting time in the district office. Plan in advance who will attend the meeting, who will be the leader of the meeting, who will write the thank you note afterwards and conduct any follow-up with the office. Having NARFE chapter stationary is a plus---a good way to get noticed as a professional group of constituents!

26 Establishing a Relationship with your local MC Do you have a Congressional District Liaison? This is a relatively new NARFE position---tasks a NARFE member who already has, or promises to cultivate, a relationship with the MC and their office. Attend town hall meetings. Ask your NARFE-PAC Coordinator if there are any events you can attend (needs to be done in coordination with HQ to satisfy complete PAC process).

27 Volunteer! If you really want to become politically active, volunteering for a local campaign or political party is a great way to become involved. Opens up networking opportunities statewide or city-wide. Legislators will remember you as a friend because you are willing to give your time and energy to their cause.

28 Involve Others We are much stronger as a group! Work with your fellow NARFE members through your chapter take on a leadership role to inspire and motivate your friends that change is possible. Remember why NARFE is a unique association: 1. Our special interests are inextricably linked to lawmakers---they will be federal retirees too! 2. Our membership is organized throughout the country (and abroad!) 3. We are the only association which works specifically to preserve and enhance retirement benefits of the federal workforce.

29 Final thoughts Be persistent, persuasive, and polite when dealing with Congress. Recognize the power of the majority party, as well as the committee chairs. Keep up your efforts do not admit defeat.

30 Q & A What have been your experiences with congressional offices? What lobbying methods have you found that NARFE members prefer? Have you attended any PAC events?