End of Summer Legislative Engagement: Where Does Your Organization Stand?

We have now hit mid-August and most individuals are preparing their children to go back to school or starting school to begin with, but what does this mean for the legislative process? Simply put it means the legislators are back in their local offices. After engaging with the public throughout the summer and going to the state capital and in the in between of the local offices. They are now formulating what they want to support and any new ideas that may come across their desk? The legislative process is about to restart itself. What does this mean for your organization? It means it’s time to really think about where you stand. Did you develop those relationships over the summer? Did you attend any events? Do you have your legislative priorities in order? All these are things you would have to be thinking about now. The reason for this is the next break is in December, and then they come back to start prepping for the May revise all over again. So where does your organization stand as of this date? If your organization is unsure of this answer; let us take a moment to provide an actual example of what we participated in over the summer as an organization with a partnering company:

J Gould Consulting does some volunteer work in the realm of political advocacy within the disability community of California. With this concept in mind, we got asked to attend a walkthrough of an organization’s building that they were showing off to legislative representatives. We were asked to sit in a room along with the Executive Director and other staff members of that organization. We were waiting for the Senator and Assemblypersons to come through. Once they arrived in the room, we were asked to do two things: talk about the organization and talk about our company. As well as the ties between the organization, our company, and the larger population of developmental disability. In both cases, we gave a brief overview of our organization as well as the company we were representing there at the time. Everything was going very smoothly in both interactions. We were seated next to legislative representatives, at both meetings. In the first meeting, we were sitting next to the legislative representative, literally not the Assemblyperson and in the second meeting we were seated next to the senator herself. In both situations just as the meeting ended, we asked for the business cards of the Staff for each representative; this is our gateway in, and we knew this. These business cards will turn into new relationships for our company. In the realm of individuals who do not do permanent legislative engagement such as organizations, we recognize that the opportunities to make such connections are not always easy. However, it is possible. So that’s why we ask what connections did your organization make over this summer? We will leave off with one friendly reminder. Always, always, always follow up and keep engaging.