Maryland Municipal League Hometown Lobbying Handbook for Maryland City & Town officials Maryland Municipal League 1212 West Street Annapolis, MD 21401-3635 410/268-5514 800/492-7121 mml@mdmunicipal.org www.mdmunicipal.org 9/99 The Municipal Leader and the Legislature
A common goal of municipal leaders in Maryland is a desire to improve the quality of life in their communities. Sooner or later, however, local officials realize that much of what happens within their own borders is directed by others outside of their jurisdiction, primarily the State legislature. The reality is that in order to be an effective municipal leader today, you must recognize the significant role played by the legislature and the other branches of State government in regulating and funding the activities of local government. Your municipal responsibilities must involve representing the interests of your community within the Maryland Municipal League and before the legislature. You must make your own opportunities to influence State actions that have an impact on your city s or town s quality of life. This handbook will offer some practical information and advice on how to best serve your community as a lobbyist. The information gathered here includes: Details on the Maryland Municipal League s Lobbying Efforts Outline of the Maryland Legislative Structure How to be a Year-round Lobbyist Tips for Writing Letters to Legislators How to Hold a Legislative Issues Meeting Tips for Effective Lobbying Additional Lobbying Suggestions 1. When communicating with your legislators, it is extremely helpful to state your position on a bill in terms of its effect on your city s tax rate. In other words, make the point that if the bill is passed, it would represent a higher (or lower) property tax rate of a specified amount. As city officials, that is how we must judge the cost of legislation to our taxpayers. 2. Please, always indicate your support for the League s priority bills, even if your city has no current plans to benefit directly from the MML legislation. There is strength in collective action. (Occasionally, a legislator may casually try to get a municipal official to say the he/she does not support or does not care about a League bill so that he/she can feel free to vote against it. Please guard against this.) 3. Remember to thank legislators regularly and publicly for their time, work, support, and votes. Never discount the importance of a thank you; it can really make a difference. Remember that effective municipal advocacy begins at the local level and is a continuous process. The more you involve your legislators in understanding your city and its issues, needs, and concerns, the more responsive they will be when you call on them during session.
Tips for Lobbying 1. Assign someone in the city to the specific task of watching legislation, reviewing the League s Bulletin, and checking the League s website. Keep each Bulletin for reference. 2. Recommend that the city actively participate and follow up on legislation as part of the city s everyday activities. 3. Have periodic legislative reports at city council meetings. 4. Generate editorials and news stories on matters of concern to municipal government. 5. Develop data to support legislative priorities and be sure there is an understanding in your city of the issues involved with particular legislative proposals. 6. Secure support for city positions from other organizations and groups; e.g. local chambers of commerce, labor groups, taxpayer associations, homeowner associations, county officials, etc. 7. Get to know your legislator s staff, because if you cannot get your concerns to the legislator, talking to a staff member who knows you is the next best thing. 8. Keep the MML staff informed of your activities whenever you send a letter, a fax, or pass a resolution on an issue on which the League has taken a position. The Maryland Municipal League s Legislative Advocacy Program The Legislative Priority Program of the Maryland Municipal League represents the collective effort of elected and appointed municipal officials to identify those issues that directly affect the future well-being of Maryland s cities and towns, and those who live in them. MML s legislative committee brings recommended issues to the full League membership at the annual legislative conference held in October where wide-ranging deliberation on the proposed issues occurs and representatives from cities and towns across the state select MML s priorities for the upcoming General Assembly session. During each annual session of the Maryland General Assembly, MML publishes a weekly Bulletin for municipal officials. Each issue of the Bulletin contains timely reports on the many legislative issues important to cities and towns. The Bulletin is also available on the MML Website at www.mdmunicipal.org. In addition, the League s legislative staff provides informative session updates on all legislative issues of concern to municipal officials on the web page.
The Maryland General Assembly Structure Other Reminders for Meeting Success! SENATE (47 Members) Voters in Maryland General Assembly of Maryland HOUSE OF DELEGATES (141 Members) a. Invite every legislator and give them plenty of notice. b. Try to select a meeting time so that it doesn t compete with another meeting occurring in the same facility. Serve a meal or drinks if appropriate. c. Know the legislative items in the program. President of the Senate Secretary of the Senate Speaker of the House Chief Clerk d. Invite representatives from the League staff if appropriate. e. Have legislators introduced by municipal officials from their district if more than one town is involved. Senate Committees (Standing) - Budget and Taxation - Economic and Environmental Affairs - Finance - Judicial Proceedings - Executive Nominations - Rules - Select (Local Delegations) House Committees (Standing) - Appropriations - Commerce and Government Matters - Economic Matters - Environmental Matters - Judiciary - Ways and Means - Rules and Executive Nominations - County (Local Delegations) For more information on the structure and workings of the MD General Assembly, you can link to the Maryland Manual from the General Assembly Home Page (web address is http://mlis.state.md.us). f. Ask that legislators contact MML if they are interested in cosponsoring League legislation. g. Make use of charts, diagrams, and other visual aids, but don't use a lot of detailed numbers. h. Indicate your support for the MML priority program. i. Use local officials for the presentation. Don t rely on League staff to make the presentation. League staff can always be called on to answer questions concerning a proposal but MML Legislative Committee members from your town/district are more effective with their fellow elected officials at the State level. j. Ask to meet legislators in Annapolis during the session to review the status of the MML/chapter/city legislation.
How to Hold Legislative Issues Meeting 1. Contact members of the legislative delegation on behalf of the MML chapter or city inviting their attendance at the issues meeting. Be prepared to negotiate the actual date to gain the greatest possible attendance of legislators. 2. Designate a presentation subcommittee with at least one city official for each topic; the subcommittee members should be carefully selected for their ability to make effective oral presentations. The presentation subcommittee should meet at least once prior to the meeting to review the presentations and to resolve any differences of opinion that might exist among members of the committee. Suggested Outline for The Presentation Meeting a. Opening remarks by the president/mayor with introduction of the legislative delegation and mayor/council members. b. Presentation of the first topic by an issue presenter. This presentation should be limited to ten minutes, followed by a one or two minute follow-up statement by other subcommittee members if necessary. Try to speak from notes rather then just read a position paper. c. Allow 10-15 minutes for rejoinders or remarks by legislators. d. Allow 10-20 minutes for questions and follow-up discussion between the subcommittee and legislators. It is recommended that appropriate questions be prepared by the subcommittee in advance to keep the discussion narrowly focused on the stated subject. Questions or comments from other attendees should be allowed if time permits. e. Presentation of additional topics repeating the above referenced format. It is probably best to present topics in order of decreasing importance since time constraints may limit full discussion of subjects as the meeting progresses. Lobbying is a Year-Round Effort Efforts must be made throughout the year to develop and maintain positive relationships with your legislators. Several suggestions regarding that relationship include: Giving legislators a tour of the town and its public facilities (police station, parks, sewerage and water plants, town hall, etc.) Asking a legislator to sponsor a local bond bill that benefits a project in your town. Inviting legislators to address a regular meeting of the town council (perhaps annually in May to give a post-session report on what the General Assembly did for the town during the session). Inviting legislators to town functions (picnics, parades, special events, etc.), introducing them, and giving them an opportunity to speak if it is appropriate. Telephoning or writing legislators to express an opinion on a relevant issue of concern. Sending a legislator a birthday card. Thanking a legislator publicly for his/her help. Attending General Assembly committee hearings and otherwise meet with your legislators in Annapolis (Monday nights during session are good times to do this). Conducting informal meetings with your legislators when they are in the district. (Saturday morning breakfast meetings are good for this purpose.) Providing your legislators with analyses on issues of municipal importance. They will be interested in the city s position on issues.
How to Write an Effective Lobbying Letter Use your city s letterhead when communicating your city s position on a bill. Indicate immediately which bill you re addressing by its bill number (HB ) if it originates in the House, SB if it originates in the Senate) and by an identifying phrase or bill title. January 25, 2000 Town of Everywhere Municipal Building - Everywhere, MD 22222 Senator John Goodlaw Senate Office Building Annapolis, MD 21401-1991 Make it easy for legislative staffers to route your correspondence by indicating which bill you are addressing just below the date of your letter. RE: SB 232 (Repeal of Wicks Act) Address lobbying correspondence to the chair of the committee that will hear the legislation and/or your hometown legislators. Be sure to send a copy of your letter to MML s legislative staffers, so they can include information on your support or opposition in their committee testimony. Dear Senator Goodlaw: Provide concrete, credible information on the impact of proposed legislation on your municipality - and on the voters of your municipality. Keep your letter short. A succinct, one-page letter will have more impact than a longer one. If you have documentation of the bill s impact on your city, enclose it, but keep the letter short. I am writing to express the Town of Everywhere s strong support for SB 232 which would repeal the Wicks Law. The bill is currently in the Senate Economic and Environmental Affairs Committee. Our town council recently adopted, by unanimous vote, a resolution urging the General Assembly to repeal the Wicks Law this session. Our reasons for supporting SB 232 are as follows: 1) Section 1001 of Article 23A, which is the portion of Wicks Law relating to local governments, requires the preparation of separate specification for projects costing in excess of $50.00. This in effect prohibits the use of a general contractor to coordinate the project, and as a result the quality of the job is diminished and the cost increased. 2) Local governments are not in the business of acting as construction managers, yet the Wicks Law mandates that we do it anyway. 3) A comprehensive analysis of the Wicks Law in 1987 by the Maryland Department of Fiscal Services estimated that approximately $200 million in additional construction costs are passed on to local taxpayers because of the wasteful Wicks Law requirements. Our recently constructed municipal building was two years late and $180,000 over budget, which is the equivalent of adding $1.50 per $100 to our tax rate. The Wicks Law requirements were the direct cause of the poor job coordination and cost overruns. 4) Our village has been told by a number of reputable contractors that they refuse to bid on Wicks-related projects because of the anarchy that rules when a general contractor is not allowed to take overall responsibility for a job. For these reasons, and for the benefit of your constituents who must pay for the problems caused by the Wicks Law, I urge your support of SB 232. Sincerely yours, Get to the point of your letter quickly: your support for or opposition to the bill. Be sure you make clear for whom you are speaking. Underline or italicize sparingly to emphasize important points. Act promptly. Too many good lobbying letters arrive after a vote already has been taken. Be sure to be clear about what action you want the legislator to take. Later if the legislator does what you ask him/her to do, be sure to send a letter thanking him/her for his/her vote. cc: Maryland Municipal League John Everyvoter Mayor, Town of Everywhere Please keep MML informed.