2025 is turning into a year of speed and efficiency. New legislative bodies are settling into their seats. Deciding what their priorities will be for the year. Pondering over what they can do for the year and what would have to be pushed off. We are not saying we hop into the mind of a legislative individual. We do not. What we are saying is these are common questions often facing anyone representing mass populations.

What does this mean for an organization? If you have been following Jay Gould consulting articles for quite some time, you should already know that at this point in the year you should have your priorities at least in order. What’s important to your organization? Should already be answered. Now it’s time to think. How can we approach our legislative representatives? Are we representing our own concept or joining a larger coalition of individuals?

If you are representing your own concept, then the ability to do free thinking and free design of your concept is an accepted ideal. If you’re working with multiple orgs for a larger reason, the key is to balance out each order’s perspective on that reason. In either case, start thinking of your five-point perspective. Meaning, when you’re in a meeting with the legislative representative, what are the five takeaways you want me to have? This is assuming you’ve done the first half of what we always talk about, which is developing that relationship. If your organization has not even done that part, you need to go backwards and develop those relationships by attending events, virtual or otherwise.

Now back to the first initial steps. Do you know your 5 talking points? Consciously aware of additional breaks taken by the legislature. Factor that into how much time you’ll have to. Present. And get your concepts through the legislative process. We’ll put it to your organization in simple terms. A calendar year has 12 months. A legislative year has 9 due to mandatory breaks by legislation and of course the holidays. You’re losing 3 months in total. We are not sharing this information to scare people off this pathway. We are trying to give a strong idea of how to set a strong mindset for a needed population. There are many other factors to consider. Appraising the time frame is probably the most essential. Knowing this information, we are encouraging organizations to get out there and get fighting. Respecting each other collaborating whenever possible and helping the disability community get a voice stronger than ever.