Transcript D. Scott Penman Penman & Winton Consulting    Create a basic understanding of the legislative funding and policy making process in Missouri Provide insight into.

D. Scott Penman
Penman & Winton Consulting
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Create a basic understanding of the
legislative funding and policy making process
in Missouri
Provide insight into points along the process
that can maximize advocacy efforts
Highlight key components of process and
strategy to maximize advocacy effort
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Democrat
Male
Senate Members: 34
Democrats:
9
Female Democrats: 5
Male Democrats:
4
Republican
Female
Republicans:
Female Republicans:
Male Republicans:
Total
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1
24
200
150
100
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Democrat
House Members:
163
Democrats:
45
Female Democrats:
20
Male Democrats:
25
Republican
Male
Female
Republicans:
Female Republicans:
Male Republicans:
Total
118
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Republican veto-proof supermajorities in the
House and Senate
Just 5 new Senators and 35 new Representatives
mean a majority of legislators have legislative
experience
Amendment 10
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What are your priorities and issues?
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Senate and House websites
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www.senate.mo.gov
www.house.mo.gov
Committees
Calendars
Bill Reporting System
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Bill is assigned
Bill is heard
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Proponents
Opponents
Cost
Alterations
Voted upon
Returned to speaker
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Does the chair of the committee support or oppose the
legislation?
Talk to committee members before the hearing
◦ Ask for their votes
◦ Learn why they do/don’t like it (personal and professional)
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Testimony: make the case
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Is legislation needed?
How does legislation work/what does it do?
Diversity in testimony: what and who
Costs
Be respectful
Determine if it could be combined with other legislation
Preempt opponents
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Key Players
◦ Presiding Officer: Places your bill on the calendar,
or not
 Senate: President Pro Tem
 House: Speaker
◦ Majority Floor Leader: Chooses to take the bill up
for debate
◦ Sponsor speaks on bill
◦ Legislative champions speak on bill
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Amendments
Length of time
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Vote Count
Short and Sweet
Resolve Differences Prior to Debate
Prepare Your Sponsor and Others
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Talking points
Cost estimates
Purpose/goal
Evaluation
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Conference Committee
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Governor’s Desk
or
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The State Fiscal Year (SFY) begins on July 1st
and ends on June 30th
The process by which funds are appropriated
is similar to the process by which laws are
made
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Core: 90% of the budget
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Cost to Continue: 5-7% of the budget
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New Decision Items (NDI): 0-3% of the budget
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Similar to legislative process for policy except:
Budget Bills introduced in the House by the
Budget Chair
Budget goes through two tiered committee
process in the House
Department recommendations are considered
(even if administrator is of a different political
affiliation)
Historical and economic trends are considered
More tolerant of federal interaction, federal
dollars, restrictions, directions
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A final budget is due on the Governor’s desk
one week prior to the end of session
Budget bills have a one year sunset and begin
on July 1st
Line item vetoes/withholding of funds
Amendment 10
Cost/benefit analyses
Cost savings projections
Discussion with state department
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Very difficult to get a bill passed
All about the majority party
One member of a party supporting your bill does
not mean the rest of the party supports it
Legislative actions are rarely taken because they’re
“the right thing to do”
During floor votes, there may be “confusion” on the
dais
There is no compassion in politics; “deities,”
however, may have some
Never take anything for granted
Coalitions are vital
D. Scott Penman
Penman & Winton
Consulting
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.penman-winton.com
Phone: 573.635-6044
Twitter: @scottpenman
Advocacy Basics:
Crafting Your Message
Nonprofit Success:
Achieving Impact Through Advocacy
Presented by Paul Kincaid
January 16, 2015
Communication
• Communication is key to success
o The messages you communicate matter
o How you communicate the messages matters
o Who communicates the messages matters
o The timing of the communications matters
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Philosophy
• Develop and have a solid philosophical
foundation from which to work – you won’t
have time to make it up as you go
o Professionalism, honesty and integrity always
o Have respect for all
o Never say anything you don’t want repeated
o Always express appreciation
o Accept “Legislators are always the legislators”
o Avoid high-highs and low-lows – be steady
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Philosophy to consider
• View governmental relations within public
relations
• Treat legislators as “donors”
• Seek first to understand
• Respect the profession
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Public relations function
• I view governmental relations as a
specialty area within public relations
• Therefore, I approach governmental
relations by applying all public relations
best practices
• Others will approach governmental
relations with a different mindset
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“Donor” rather than “public servant”
• The implications:
o Request rather than demand
o Persuade rather than insist
o Build long-term relationship
o Listen more than talk
o Find common ground
o Have frequent, quality communications
o Respond promptly
o Provide excellent customer service
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Seek first to understand….
• See the world from the elected officials’
perspective
o Why were they elected?
o Who elected them?
o How can they get elected again?
o What are their priorities?
• Elected officials have difficult jobs, work
long hours, and do their best for their
constituents
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Show respect for the profession
• Show respect for government, service,
legislature by learning:
o Rules
o Practices
o Traditions
o Terminology
• Take the work as seriously as the elected
officials do
• Be a quick study and never stop learning
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Helpful advice
“A single lie destroys a whole reputation of
integrity.”
Baltasar Gracian
Spanish Jesuit, writer
philosopher in the 1600s
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More helpful advice
“Look out the window, not in the mirror.”
Peter Drucker
Management consultant,
educator and author
• Eliminate preconceived notions
• Base your analysis on facts and actual situation
• Don’t permit “wishful thinking”
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Keys to consider
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Be accurate
Be positive
Be compelling
Be repetitive
Be visual
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Lead with what you believe
• Your organization’s purpose is the most
powerful, compelling message you have
o Example: We believe no child in Greene
County should go to bed hungry.
• What is your organization’s belief
statement?
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Follow with your mission
• Transition from belief to your
organization’s mission to act on the belief
o Example: My organization’s mission is to
provide healthy meals to children and their
families.
• Most organizations have and use this kind
of mission statement
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Then make your request
• Based on the belief and the mission, you
can make your request
o If statutory bill, request might be: We would
like your support to pass HB 123 because it
will help us accomplish our goal by X, Y and
Z.
o If budget bill, request might be: We ask for
your support of this line item allocation
because it will allow us to meet our goal by
funding X, Y and Z.
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Summary
• Belief
• Mission
• Request
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Tips for success
• Be succinct (high ratio of words to ideas) – try
to keep written pieces to one page
• Use bullets, callouts, charts, graphs, photos,
other graphics/visuals to make reading easier
• Provide context and comparisons
• Make the request clear and precise
• Don’t be afraid to adapt and revise based on
feedback
• In person, be aware of body language
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Prepare your advocates
• Help your advocates succeed
• When asking members of your team to
make contact with legislators, prepare and
review bullets with them in advance
• When assisting legislator who is
advocating, ensure they have the
background information they need when
they need it
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Create feedback loops
• Be an attentive listener
• Be an excellent observer (“look out the
window”)
• Have multiple sources of information to
cross-check
• Seek and get feedback from all who have
contact with legislators
• Make adjustments accordingly
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Reminders
• It’s all about relationships
• Don’t wait until you need something to
communicate – have regular contacts
throughout the year
• Say “thank you” and/or express appreciation
every time you have contact
• Ask “What can I/my organization do to help
you?”
• Give credit to the elected officials for success
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Good resource
• Missouri State Government website:
http://www.moga.mo.gov/
o House
o Senate
o Statewide elected officials
o Live debate from House and Senate
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Helpful advice
You rarely advance/pass legislation as a
result of media coverage/exposure.
• Respond to media if asked
• Focus on beliefs/goals, not strategy, tactics, timing
• Refer media to appropriate elected officials for
expert/definitive statements
• If you do talk to media, always give credit to legislators for
successes – but do not blame for failures
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Thank you
Paul Kincaid, APR, Fellow PRSA
Kincaid Communications, LLC
www.KincaidCommunications.com
[email protected]
@KincaidCom
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Q&A/Discussion
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What have we missed?
What was unclear?
What would you like to discuss further?
What comments do you have?
What experiences would you like to
share?
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