Transcript BPW/USA ERA TASK FORCE

BPW/USA ERA TASK FORCE
Unratified States Action Plan
Form A Coalition
With As Many Groups as Possible Who
Are Willing to Work on This Issue
• Concentrate on building ‘teams’ with clearly
defined roles and tasks
⁻ State regions
• Make assignments simple
• Formulate an internal network for
communications
⁻ Train in actions and messages
Recruit Contact People Who Are
Passionate About Passage of the ERA
• One to two key influentials who can recruit other
‘grassroots’ leaders
– Identify people who are invested in your success and
willing to use their position
– Utilize these individuals to influence decision makers
and lead public opinion
• One to two spokespersons only for press!
• Team leader for legislative contacts in field
• Team leader for Session
• Team leader for grassroots activation
Begin a Public Education Campaign
Five ‘C’s of Media Relations
1. Credibility
2. Comfort
3. Confidence
4. Compelling story
5. Control
Present the BPW/USA workshop entitled “It’s Not
Just Your Grandmother’s – or your Mother’s – ERA!”
to show continued relevance for the ERA.
Selling Your Story
•Examples
•Third party endorsements
•Anecdotes
•Testimonials
•Analogies
•Research
•Personal experience
•Facts
•Statistics
What Reporters Want
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Access to news sources
Timely responses
Meet deadlines
Short, clear, accurate answers
Brief background materials
Use Public Education Campaign To
Recruit Members In Coalition
• Utilize your members to write Letters to
Editor at key times
• Always provide talking points for letters
that are 200 words or less
• Use members for calls to legislators, letters
to legislators at key action times
• Always provide talking points: one or
two!
Coalition Sends Questionnaire to
ALL State Legislators
• Questionnaire should ask:
1. Do you support ratification of the
federal Equal Rights Amendment?
2. If yes, would you sponsor a Bill for that
issue?
3. If no, please explain your reasons.
• Make sure legislator knows your coalition
is monitoring their response.
• Let them know constituents will follow
up – and then do it!
Increasing Response Rate
• Be willing to meet with legislators.
• Follow-up calls or letters are
important thanking respondents.
⁻ Recruit ‘yes’s to be Bill authors or
sponsors
• Important to meet with ‘no’s to find
out their objections and try to
answer them.
⁻ Do this BEFORE session starts
when possible
Bill Author and Sponsor
• Start with friends
⁻ Legislators, Lobbyists
• Give Bill author and sponsors 1-page
‘talking point’ sheets. Include responses to
anti-arguments on that sheet.
• Identify Senate and House author
⁻ Discuss with each author best way to
move Bill in appropriate committees and
on each House floor
Moving the Bill
• Committee strategy: who moves first
• Follow Bill’s progress putting pressure on
legislators and recruiting more individuals and
groups.
• Utilize news outreach campaign
• Count your votes
⁻ Committee, floor
• Have a presence
⁻ Make it hard to ignore you
⁻ Train your volunteers
Keep to Your Strategy
• Develop a SWAT Team that will be on-call
for assistance (brainstorming, role playing,
review of written testimony, etc.)
– Capitol nerve center
– Action alert system
– Message center for coalition
Keep to Your Strategy (cont.)
• Update it with new information
⁻ Weekly team meetings
⁻ Identify conditions that encourage your
success
⁻ Monitor opposition and contain quickly
• Know your enemy, their message, their
strengths and weaknesses
⁻ Go after their credibility rather than trying to
counter every point they make. Once you
discredit them, what they say is no longer
relevant.
Building Nerve Center
• What legislators and lobbyists will help?
• Key meetings with legislators and
Governor before session?
• Keep overall message consistent, but…
• Determine ‘actor’ specific messages
⁻ What moves committee chair, chamber
president, Governor?
⁻ Women’s Legislative Caucus
Keep Your Friends Informed
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Legislators
Lobbyists
Network
Friendly reporters
Legislative Days
⁻ Volunteers at Capitol
⁻ Messages to desks
⁻ Visibility in Rotunda
Keep Score
Keep track of what worked
well and what didn’t, and
use this information in
future efforts as well as
sharing it with campaigns
in other unratified states.