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establish an active legislative committee –
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Committee members must have time to commit.
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Should
meet once a month and more often during session.
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Session
ends in may – committee should meet end of may to do a re-appraisal
of the session to determine what was done right and what was done
wrong
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Adopt
your goals for next session - no more than 3 – put in priority order
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Committee size most effective with 5-7 persons
The
work done in the summer is the most important and where you win or lose
a lot of times. It’s important to know how many legislators going into
the session are on your side and who they are.
determine the key legislators
that focus on your issues –
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key legislators are those involved on
healthcare and appropriations committees
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it’s very important to keep in
contact with key legislators on a regular basis
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all house representatives and state
senators should be contacted
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legislators in leadership roles,
speaker of the house, president of the senate, ways and means
committee chairman in senate and appropriations chairman
assign one person each
legislator –
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personally visit with the legislator in the summer
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most important is to get a pledge of their support
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waiting until legislative committees begin meeting in october and
november is too late
create a one page letter of
introduction –
share outcome of visit to
legislator with legislative committee –
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did you get a pledge of their support?
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did you get a tentative pledge of support?
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did you get brushed off?
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this is critical information as you approach legislative session
determine if your priorities
require appropriation action or statutory change –
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appropriation action requires someone on the committee to lead that
action for you
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statutory change requires a legislative bill with both a house and
senate sponsor
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contact legislators to be co-sponsors – they will be obligated to
vote for the bill
What to
do when committees begin meeting, at the beginning of and during
legislative session.
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testify before committees working
on developmental disability issues
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when testifying talk to the committees, don’t read to them
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speak from your heart, speak from your commitment
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right person to speak on right issue-not just availability
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contact legislators at beginning
of legislative session
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the legislative committee and anyone else interested need to
contact all senators and house representatives
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ask for their pledge of support
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include a brief explanation of bill or appropriation, name of
sponsor and list of co-sponsors
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legislative committee must monitor
legislative progress
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know when your bill is going before a committee
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it’s very important to be represented at committee hearings
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monitor the committee hearings as the bill goes through
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if a bill, it must be heard by all committees of reference
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once passed by all committees it goes on the special order
agenda to be heard on the floor
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both house and senate bills must be identical when passed
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if one has an amendment then both have to be reconciled
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monitoring of the bills must be done to make sure they are
compatible through the whole process
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if going for appropriations, don’t forget the governor’s office.
it’s important to contact the governor early because you want
the appropriation in his budget
Additional
comments:
At
election time, it’s important to support any legislator who has been of
assistance in your efforts or has someone within their family with a
disability. You can campaign for him by making phone calls, walk the
neighborhood for him, etc. If you know of a real champion then support
him.
It can
be very effective to take your loved one with a disability with you as
long as he/she can be reasonably calm and allow you the chance to make
your point. It’s important the legislators see the person with a
disability, but depending on behaviors a picture can be just as
effective.
A
lobbyist, familiar with developmental disabilities, could be helpful
with legislation
FCCF
meeting January 17, 2009
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