A Beginner's Guide to Lobbying
A few days ago I had the amazing opportunity to lobby with my university at Washington State’s capitol in Olympia. In an effort to decrease an exorbitant deficit, the state must implement crippling budget cuts. Education has experienced the biggest cuts in funding which has resulted in raising tuition prices. These cuts would add up to a “49 percent drop in our state appropriation over a four-year period,” according to President Elson Floyd of Washington State University. Further tuition increases would make education unaffordable for a growing number of young adults.
Going in, many of us were unclear about how to lobby to senators and representatives. But I’ve always believed that sometimes the only way to learn how to do anything is to start doing it. If you want to accomplish anything, you can’t be afraid of embarrassment or failure. And it also helps to plan and do your research. So here is a list of what I’ve learned about how to lobby effectively:
1. If you’re going in a large group, know what you’re doing before you get there, and make sure everyone else knows what they’re doing, also.
2. Pick out specific bills to support, or offer solutions. Don’t just give your general opinion. (Summaries as well as the history of specific bills for WA can be found here.)
3. Try to understand the bigger picture.
4. Know about a specific legislator’s opinions and recent voting activity before meeting. If you don’t know their opinion, ask them.
5. Thank senators who support your agenda.
6. Explain how a measure would affect you, and be genuine.
7. Write letters and e-mails to your senators. Apparently they actually read them, and letters make a huge difference in a senator’s perception of how many people care about an issue (for instance, my senator has received a total of six letters about funding cuts and tuition increases, none of them from my school).
8. Show up more than once (perhaps at the beginning, middle, and end of the bill process, and follow the progress of the bill).
9. Senators often make decisions based on who did or didn’t make the most noise.
So don’t be apathetic. If an issue matters to you, make some noise! You don’t have to be a pro.
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