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Tennessee Federation of Chapters

Tennessee Federation of Chapters. Grassroots Legislative Advocacy. National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Tennessee Federation of Chapters. Advocacy: The Big Picture. How Laws Are Really Made Building Rapport Taking the Path of Least Resistance Strength in Numbers

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Tennessee Federation of Chapters

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  1. Tennessee Federation of Chapters

  2. Grassroots Legislative Advocacy National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association Tennessee Federation of Chapters

  3. Advocacy: The Big Picture • How Laws Are Really Made • Building Rapport • Taking the Path of Least Resistance • Strength in Numbers • Fundamentals of Negotiation • Persistence

  4. Is This How Laws Are Made?

  5. Or Is This How Laws Are Made? How many letters has this woman’s boss received on GPO/WEP? A chapter legislative officer talks to this man on a regular basis. Has this guy ever heard from a NARFE federation officer?

  6. How Laws Are Made: But this shows the importance of building rapport with lawmakers & staff. Everyone Should Know This.

  7. Taking the path of least resistance. NO! No Resistance Here.

  8. Talking the Path of Least Resistance. YES! Or making it hard to say NO.

  9. Fundamentals of Negotiating • Biggest Mistake: Taking NO for an answer. • NO only means NO now, • It does not mean NO three months, six months or a year from now.

  10. Negotiate Like A Four-Year Old I want H.R. 82, please! I want a squirt gun, please! I want H.R. 82, please! I want a squirt gun, please! I want H.R. 82, please! I want a squirt gun, please!

  11. Negotiate Like A Four-Year Old • Wear Down Your Lawmaker Rather Than Letting Him/Her Wear You Down • Don’t Literally Call Every Five Minutes, But Once a Month is Okay, by letter, fax or phone • Keep Asking the Question Until the Answer is YES.

  12. Step-By-Step Grassroots Advocacy • Education • Meeting with Your Lawmaker • Rank-and-File Letters/Calls to Lawmakers • Action Alerts • Local Coalition Building

  13. Education • You can’t persuade your lawmaker on the merits of our bills if you don’t know them yourself. • Educate yourself, and stay current on status! • Issue Briefs and Fact Sheets • NARFE Web Pages (National & TN Federation) • Washington Newsletter (GEMS) • NARFE Magazine • Legislative Hotline • Call 703/838-7760 or E-Mail leg@narfe.org us.

  14. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Make an Appointment: • Chapters Call District Office Scheduler • Federation Call State Office Scheduler • Follow-Up To Check Status of Request • Timing: • Prime Time: Congressional Recesses • Call Well in Advance of Recess • MLK, Presidents, Easter/Passover, Memorial, 4th of July, August/Labor Day.

  15. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Be Flexible • Work Around Your Lawmaker’s Schedule. • Troubleshooting: • Get Help from a 3rd Party • Campaign Workers • Party Activists • A Friend of the lawmaker from high school, college, business or community.

  16. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Meeting with Staff • Not the end of the world. • Staff Often Know More Than Their Boss • They go on to do Bigger and Better things. • Find Out Which Staff Covers our Issues.

  17. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Confirm Your Appointment • Call or Write to confirm appointment before meeting date. • Assemble A Group • Federation/Chapter Legislative Committee. • Representatives from all Chapters within the District or State. • Provide Issue Briefs and Fact Sheets to Group Members in Advance of Meeting

  18. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Group Game Plan: • Meet in Advance of Appointment • Thoroughly Review and Organize Arguments for Our Bills. • Discuss previous experiences with legislator and staff. • Have they cosponsored our bills in the 110th, 109th or 108th Congresses? • Discuss whether your lawmaker is a member of a key committee. If so which committee?

  19. Key Committees: • House Government Reform & Senate Governmental Affairs: • CSRS, FERS, FEHBP, TSP, FLTCIP etc. • House Ways and Means & Senate Finance: • Premium Conversion, GPO/WEP, Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. • House & Senate Budget: • Annual Budget Resolution

  20. Lesser Key Committees • House & Senate Appropriations: • Sets Discretionary Spending • Funds Federal Agencies • NOT Civil Service Retirement • Can Intervene with “Riders” • House Energy and Commerce • Medicare and Medicaid

  21. Key Legislators In Tennessee • Ways and Means • Rep. John S. Tanner, D-8 • Oversight & Government Reform • Rep. Jim Cooper, D-5, • Rep. John J Duncan Jr., R-2 • House Budget • Rep. Jim Cooper, D-5

  22. Key Legislators In Tennessee • House Appropriations • Rep. Zach Wamp, R-3 • Energy and Commerce • Rep. Bart Gordon D-6, • Rep. Marsha Blackburn R-7

  23. Key Senators In Tennessee • Senate Finance • (None from Tennessee in 110th) • Senate Governmental Affairs • (None from Tennessee in 110th) • Senate Appropriations • Senator Lamar Alexander • Senate Budget • (None from Tennessee in 110th)

  24. Preparing to Meet With Your Lawmaker • Extra Fact Sheets for Your Lawmaker • Notes: • Helps Group Keep Discussion on Track. • Ask Specific Group Members to Discuss Different Points, Personalize where you can • Focus on Top Issues: • Premium Conversion (HR.1110 & S.773) • GPO/WEP (HR.82 & S.206)

  25. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Introductions • Name, Chapter Affiliation & Title • Purpose of Meeting • Cosponsor premium conversion, GPO/WEP bills. • Ask “Lapsed” Cosponsors to Reaffirm Their Support.

  26. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Beyond Cosponsoring: • Ask Your Representative to Urge Chairman Rangel and Ranking Member McCrery to Approve the Premium Conversion, GPO/WEP Bills and move for a vote by the full House Jim McCrery (R-LA), Ranking Member Charles Rangel (D-NY), Chairman

  27. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Beyond Cosponsoring: • Ask Your Senators to Urge Chairman Baucus and Ranking Member Grassley to Approve the Premium Conversion, GPO/WEP Bills and move for a vote by the full Senate Max Baucus (D-MT), Chairman Charles Grassley (R-IA), Ranking Member

  28. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Educate with Basic Facts: • Avoid Using Abbreviations or Jargon • Assume Your Lawmakers Know Nothing • Discuss Fundamentals of Our Bills (Education of the lawmakers and or staff) • Relate Personal Stories About the Effects of Raising Premiums and GPO/WEP.

  29. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Stay on Target: • Keep Lawmakers and Group Members on Subject. (10-15 minutes is all you may get with your Member of Congress) • Follow-Up Questions: • If You Don’t Know the Answer – Provide the Correct Information Later.

  30. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Try To Get a Firm Commitment • Or Repeat Your Request with the “hope” that they would cosponsor __________. • Leave Fact Sheets • Follow-Up With A Thank You Note. • Provide any Information They Requested.

  31. Meeting With Your Lawmaker • Other Opportunities • Town Hall Meetings • Call State or District Office for Schedule. • Fundraisers • Check with Your NARFE-PAC Coordinator First. • Chance Occurrence

  32. Communication From Rank-and-File Members to Lawmakers

  33. Communication From Rank-and-File Members to Lawmakers • Large Numbers of Annuitants Are Meaningless Unless They Hear From Them. • If You Take The Time To Write – Then You Take the Time to Vote • Federation and Chapter Officers Must Motivate Rank-and-File NARFE Members.

  34. One of The Biggest Mistakes Chapter Officers Make • Only Chapter Officers Write (40+/-) and Rank-and-File Members (4750) Do Not. • That Means 98.4% of Our Grassroots Resources are Unused, but available. • Never Going to Get 100%. • But What About 50%, 75% or even 90%? • Maximize Our Potential Grassroots, keep pushing or asking them to participate

  35. Letters to Legislators

  36. Personal Letters • Pros: • Most Effective, keep it to one page • Appear To Be Spontaneous and Genuine • Not Necessarily Generated From Outside Group. • Cons: • Our NARFE Members Don’t Always Take The Time To Write

  37. Form Letters • Pros: • Don’t Have to Write Your Own Letter. • Easy To Send Mass Mailing. • Cons: • Organized Mailing From Outside Group. • How to Improve: • Add Personal Comments. • Transcribe Text in Your Own Handwriting.

  38. Petitions • Pros: • Shows Minimal Interest By Constituents, can be done at each Chapter meeting • Cons: • Demonstrates Lack of Commitment on Issue. • If You Are Not Willing To Write – Then You Might Not Bother Voting.

  39. Rank-and-File Participation • Leave Nothing To Chance: • Copy Enough Form Letters For Your Next Chapter Meeting. • Have Members Sign Them and Add Their Mailing Address. • Supply Pre-Addressed and Stamped Envelops. • Collect Them At End of Meeting. • Mail Them Yourself.

  40. Mailing Instructions • Send Regular Mail to Local District Offices Only • Contact Information: • NARFE Legislative Action Center • NARFE U.S. 110th Congress Handbooks • Blue Pages of Phone Book • www.house.gov • www.senate.gov

  41. Mailing Instructions • Faxing or E-Mailing Letters is Okay • Mail Only To Your Own Lawmakers • Outside State or District Letters are: • Trashed • Referred to Your Own Lawmaker • Shows Why Letters From NARFE Members Represented By Key Lawmakers are Vital.

  42. Mailing Instructions • Limit Letter to Two Subjects. • Use Bill Numbers, If Available. • Personalize Your Letter • Example: How Does GPO Affect You? • Finally, Be Polite, But Firm.

  43. Phone Calls to Lawmakers

  44. Phone Calls By Rank-and-File Members to Lawmakers • Keep message simply, clear and concise: • [To Rep. Cooper:] “I ask you as a ? Office? Committee member, to urge Chairman Charles Rangel and Ranking Member Jim McCrery to approve H.R. 1110, the federal civilian and military retirees premium convention bill. ”

  45. Phone Calls By Rank-and-File Members to Lawmakers • Capitol Hill Switchboard: 202/224-3121 • Blue Pages of Phone Book: Local Office Numbers. Or http://www.narfetn.org/legislation/110congress.html • NARFE Legislative Action Center: www.narfe.org • NARFE U.S. 110th Congress Handbook

  46. Action Alerts • Rapid Grassroots Response Is Sometimes Necessary, especially if a bill is on the floor for vote • Short Notice • Short Turn Around Time for Rank-and-File To Call or E-Mail Lawmaker.

  47. How To Initiate An Action Alert • Instructions and Message Provided by National Headquarters. • Only 25,000 Members Can be Reached by E-Mail. • Urge Your Members to Add Their E-Mail Address to Their Membership Record! • www.narfe.org • 1-800-456-8410

  48. How To Initiate An Action Alert • Reaching 360,000 Members without E-mail: • Each Chapter Should Have Either: • Telephone Tree, or • Calling Committee • Calling Volunteers Should Be Available Whenever Congress is in Session.

  49. Telephone Tree

  50. Coalition Building • Coalition Building Isn’t Limited To National Level. • State/Local Coalitions Built Around State Tax Refund Court Cases.

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