Lobbying Basics
Many of you have been to Washington many times before and have enjoyed many successful visits to Capitol Hill. Personal visits with your senator or representative are a very effective means of grassroots lobbying; these visits often lay the foundation for important future contacts.
The Securities Industry Association believes that one of our most important assets in disseminating information to Congress, about our industry, is you. It is our job to inform you about current legislative issues being considered by Congress. In turn, we hope you will help your Congressman understand the impact this legislation will have on our industry and offer advice and analysis for the Congressperson as an immediate or future resource.
When you go on your appointment with your legislator there are some basic protocols that will help to ensure a smooth, informative meeting for both the Congressperson and yourself:
- Be on time for your appointment. If you are more than five minutes late, the member may go on to his or her next appointment.
- Present your business card to the member, it helps them remember your name and gives them your contact information if they should need to follow up with you after your visit.
- Open up the meeting with a comment to establish a tie between the legislator and yourself - e.g., a discussion of a mutual friend, common interests in the state, a thank you for a recent vote or hearing.
- Keep to your schedule, do not go off on a tangent. It is important to realize that the Member's staff during the meeting may interrupt you, especially if a vote comes up on the floor.
- Because opportunities to meet with the member are limited, always ask for the name of the staff person who handles your issue and indicate that you would like to follow up with him or her.
- Be succinct. This may be the most important issue in the world to you, but it is only one of several dozen on your legislator's plate.
- Do not become overtly technical without proper documentation for the member, you may be an expert on the subject, but chances are your legislator is not. Remember - the impression you make in a 15-minute meeting could last years.
- Leave a one or two-page fact sheet with the member and their staff, leave behinds are important because they can be used by the member as supplemental materials.
- Follow-up after the meeting with the member's office, reiterate your position, and try to include additional materials on subjects that were of interest to the member. By establishing yourself as a reliable source of information, you will improve your access to the member and his or her staff.
Legislative offices exist on their ability to serve constituents. As a voter in your members district they have a vested interest in getting to know you as a individual.
You, as a member of our association, hold a dynamic position. You may wish to get to know your legislator in a general sense, in order to find out his or her interests and priorities. Or, you may wish to communicate your opinions and information about an issue in the hope of enlisting support. Below are some tips on interviewing your legislator:
- Do your homework. Know the facts about the issue, and be honest and accurate. Try to find out your legislator's view before the meeting by phoning his or her office or an SIA government affairs representative.
- Get off to a good start, be friendly and personable, do not jump right into the issue.
- Find out where your legislator stands on an issue, and then explain your position.
- Take the time to understand why your legislator has taken a position, never back him or her into an argument.
- Look for an opening to come back with more information
- Be brief, and keep to the point when you are speaking with a legislator. Depart on a friendly note - if you can't convince him on this issue, you might succeed on the next one.