How to Lobby – Family Council

How to Lobby: Speaking to a Legislative Committee

Jan 4, 2012JerryLegislatureHow to Lobby

Rep. David Meeks (R-Conway) about to testify before a legislative committee

Testifying before a legislative committee sounds incredibly daunting, but it really isn’t. In fact, dozens—sometimes even hundreds—of people testify before legislative committees every day once the Arkansas Legislature gets into full swing. And while it may seem like a really formal ordeal—like going to court—it really isn’t, once you cut past some of the bureaucracy.

Committee meetings are meant to give the public an opportunity to speak directly to the elected officials making laws for our state. They are your chance to share your opinions with your representatives. Below are simple steps to make your first appearance before a legislative committee the best it possibly can be.

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How to Lobby: Help Your Representatives Succeed

Dec 28, 2011JerryLegislatureHow to Lobby

In this series we provide tips on how you as a voter can successfully lobby your lawmakers at the Arkansas Legislature.

You want your lawmakers be successful. Think that sounds weird? Successful lawmakers represent their constituents accurately, cast good votes, pass good laws, and defeat bad laws.

Lobbying is not about you going toe-to-toe with your elected officials (although it may feel that way at times); lobbying is about you helping your elected officials be successful at governing our state. Rather than making them do what’s right, help them do what’s right. Your job is to give them the whole story on issues—after all, how does a lawmaker know that limiting the number of tons of sand a dump truck can carry down the highway will affect small businesses in Arkansas unless the business owners speak up? It may sound weird, but issues like that come up every time the Legislature convenes, and lawmakers that don’t get the whole story on the effects of a bill cast uneducated votes. And a decent lawmaker can get booted out of office because of one or two uneducated votes like that.

Help your lawmakers be successful at their job, and we’ll all be better off for it.

How to Lobby: Follow Up

Dec 21, 2011JerryLegislatureHow to Lobby

In this series, we provide some tips on how you as a voter can successfully lobby your elected officials.

Follow up is key in lobbying. After all, what does a lawmaker care whether he or she cast a good vote or a bad one if there are no consequences? That’s where follow-up comes into play. When your representative casts a good vote, you should be ready to immediately pat them on the back and tell them how glad you are that they did the right thing. And if they cast a bad vote, you should be ready to have a serious conversation with them about why that vote was bad.

Follow up isn’t about punishing your elected officials—it’s never appropriate to somehow threaten a lawmaker—so much as it is about expressing the fact that you’re keeping an eye on the political process and that you’re genuinely concerned about how things turn out at the legislature.