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How
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Understanding the Legislative Process Building an Effective Anti-SDMCA Coalition |
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Participating in the Legislative ProcessYou don't need to be particularly slick or smooth to participate effectively as a citizen-lobbyist. In fact, since legislators and their aides are so used to being played, a certain degree of unpolished passion and innocence can increase your credibility. Moreover, as a citizen, you can more credibly represent the concerns of the legislators' constituents. These concerns may not be top of mind for most legislators, but you can help remind them. Most importantly, you have standing to address the issues of ordinary people, in a way that your industry allies don't. It's pretty much assumed by legislators that when a representative from (say) the consumer electronics industry expresses heartfelt concern for the consumer, that this concern begins and ends with that consumer's ability and willingness to purchase electronic goodies. You, on the other hand, can more convincingly represent the interests of ordinary people. A combined industry/grassroots message is far more powerful than either alone. Topics covered in this section: DemeanorYour demeanor is incredibly important. Here are some tips that may seem obvious, but are worth reviewing:
Know your audienceIn working out your strategy for communicating with legislators and their staff, as well as for testifying before committees, never assume that what you find persuasive is necessarily what others will find persuasive. For technical folks who get involved in this effort, it can be particularly hard to find the right approach. Regular readers of Slashdot inhabit a remarkably different universe than most legislators, who are seldom from tech backgrounds. More importantly, even tech-savvy legislators have an image of their typical constituent, and it's an image of someone who understands, and cares, even less than they do about things like firewalls and encryption research. There are three results from this:
Learn everything you can about the legislators who matter most to your effort -- the committee chairs, the sponsors of the bill, and the committee members. Find several friendly faces outside of the committees hearing the bill who really get -- or have a chance of really getting -- this issue. Your legislative leaders will be crucial here -- you can look at web pages and scratch your head all day long, and not know whether someone is engaged enough to get a particular message. However, most states have some remarkably useful resources that you can use to help identify receptive legislators and tailor your message:
One thing that you should also keep in mind is political party, but not for the reason you might think. Unless politics in your state are very strange, this is not an inherently partisan issue. Politicians love occasional opportunities to take bipartisan action, and you opponents will likely use this bill to present one of those opportunities. Make sure that your message resonates with members from both parties, and as you move towards more ambitious steps like proposing amendments or alternate versions of thee bill, try very hard to get allies on both sides of the aisle. Finally, pay close attention to which arguments seem to work and which don't. Always be prepared to tweak your message as appropriate to resonate better with your audience. For instance, in Texas during this last session the hot topic was tort reform -- possibly because of this, one of our most effective approaches compared potential abuses of the SDMCA to actual mass litigation pursued under existing statutes by DirecTV. Citizen Lobbying overviewAs a citizen lobbyist, you're probably not going to be meeting with many actual legislators. More likely, you'll be meeting and attempting to influence legislative staff, who, in turn, have considerable influence of their boss. As you gain credibility, you might have a chance to meet with particularly friendly or helpful legislators, but this is a long-term goal. Within a legislative office, there will typically be an individual staff person assigned to the bill. Sometimes this is allocated on committee lines (e.g., Bob takes the Finance committee bills, Jane takes Regulated Industries), sometimes the bills are just assigned as they come up. While there are few techie legislators, it's a lot more likely you'll find a techie staff member. Treasure these people. The staff person assigned to a bill will prepare what's called a briefing book, which will contain information the staff member thinks the legislator should know. It may include news articles, letters from constituents, tallies of phone calls made in support or opposition, and information sheets from lobbyists. If the staff person thinks the bill is interesting, he or she may write a memo or give a verbal analysis of the bill in a meeting with the legislator. Lobbying step by stepPrepare information sheets. Your basic prop in the lobbying process is a one- or two-page information sheet. There are numerous examples [LINK TO INFO SHEET ARCHIVE] available of what we used during the Texas fight. The information sheets have to be very simple, while conveying the messages that you think will resonate most with legislators in your state. It's not that legislators are retarded, but rather that they are extremely busy, and they are not familiar with the jargon and mental shorthand that you may have acquired as someone immersed in the technical or online world. Be prepared to revise the information sheets as you learn what messages resonate and which ones don't. Also, the bill may get amended over time, sometimes quite rapidly, so make sure that the information sheets you're giving out match the bill as it stands. Letters and information sheets from others As you build your coalition, you will (hopefully) identify people in your state who are particularly qualified to comment on the bill. In Texas, for instance, we got one of the leading experts on Texas criminal law to oppose the bill, as well as two experts on intellectual property. Your coalition may want to do a joint letter, in which you provide an overview of the reasons for your opposition, and then all sign on to the letter. This helps to show that there is a coalition, and that there is broad-based opposition to the bill. Letters and information sheets can be mailed, but are most effective when delivered in person. Prepare your pitch If you're going in as a small group (see below), work out who is going to address which points. Rehearse a bit, if you can. Visiting legislators Most folks are pretty frightened by the idea of going to visit legislators' offices. You have to figure out how you are going to overcome this fear. Desensitization is a good starting approach. If you can, before an SDMCA bill is introduced in your state, go down to your state legislature and hang out for an afternoon. Get a map of where the offices are. Find out where key committee chairs and members have their offices. Sit in for a bit on a committee hearing, to get a feel for how they're run in your state. Visit your senator's and representative's offices and say "hi." Watch a floor debate if you can. It's a public place, where the public's interests are represented (more or less), and they won't throw you out unless you make a serious nuisance of yourself. In Texas, at least, it is remarkably easy to visit with legislative aides to discuss a bill. Your mileage may vary, but the best tactic for us was to just show up in person and make a polite, but firm, pest of ourselves. We were told -- and experience proved -- that it was best not to try to make an appointment. Trying to make an appointment gives them an excuse to say no, or to put you off, and then it's more awkward when you just drop by. Do not call them and try to talk to them on the phone. Just show up, and ask for the aide who is working on that bill, or that type of bill, for that legislator. If that aide isn't there, find out when they're coming back. Be prepared to cool your heels for a bit. However, if you do this, the aide in question will talk to you, and attempt to understand what you have to say. If you are reasonably coherent, what you say will be included in the briefing book that the aide will prepare for the legislator on the bill. Have your information sheet with you, along with any supporting materials. Don't plan to take up more than ten minutes of the aide's time, unless the aide is clearly interested in the topic. Testifying before a committee It is almost certain that an effective opposition to the SDMCA in your state will require you and members of your coalition to testify before one or more committees. Exactly how you go about doing this is extremely state-specific, and you will probably need to rely on coalition members who have experience in your state (see "legislative leaders", below). Some basic guidelines apply to almost any committee testimony.
Letter & fax campaigns Letters to legislators are most effective if they are in the writer's own words. That said, it's good to create a model letter for those who are busy or aren't comfortable writing their own. Unique letters that relate the problems with the bill to that constituent's particular experience and situation are much more likely to make an impression (and possibly end up in the briefing book) than letters that just restate the same point as a dozen other letters. Letters that follow a model or template are typically just counted. Call-in campaigns This is a tactic that has to be used judiciously. It can be very effective at underscoring the point that real people are concerned about the issue. However, effective call-in campaigns can be incredibly disruptive to understaffed and busy legislative offices. These are the same busy staff members who you hope will sit down and talk to you when you visit, so you don't want to piss them off gratuitously. Call-ins are probably most effective when:
Moreover, the calls are most effective when they come from the constituents of a legislator. They are somewhat effective when they come from state residents. They are just plain annoying when they come frome out-of-state people, and if out-of-state calls swamp the in-state calls, they can have the opposite of the intended effect.
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