Building Support for State Asset
Building Policy
What We Know from Polling and
State Legislative Activity
Oregon Asset Builders Conference
Salem, OR – April 24, 2013
Alison McIntosh, Neighborhood Partnerships
Today’s Session
• What is “framing”?
• Narratives we’re up against
• Using values and aspiration to inspire
support
• Tools
• Polling Research
• Legislative Update
We need to change the terrain on which
discussions about our issues occurs
patterns of association
media
cultural models
frames
knowledge
We are not blank slates
stories
experience
stereotypes
myths
Framing Happens
• Frames are used by our brains
to make sense of incoming
information
• It happens fast
• Frames fill in the blanks
• They direct thinking
Framing is Always Happening
• If we do not pay attention to
how we frame our issues
people will default to the
“pictures in their heads”
RQYFPTX
Essential Steps for the Future of
America's Wetlands
As citizens committed to maintaining
and restoring a diversity and
abundance of wetlands for future
generations of people and wildlife we
urge our elected officials to work [to
improve environmental regulations
and provide funding for restoration].
Why Wetlands Matter
Wetlands benefit us all. Wetlands act as a
filter for the waters of our lakes, rivers and
streams. Wetlands improve the water we
drink, and the air we breathe. Wetlands act
like giant sponges. They soak up rain and
snowmelt as they occur, serving as
temporary storage basins, thus reducing
erosion, and limiting the destruction caused
by severe floods . . .
our brains are
rapidly seeking
to connect new
information to
the existing
stories in our
heads
The Triumphant
Individual
“Self-Made Man” – Irene Ritter
Independence
The Benevolent
Community
Dave Kolpack / AP
Interdependence
The
Poverty
Knot
Core Beliefs about Poverty
• Each individual is responsible
for his or her own success or
failure;
• With hard work comes reward;
• The goal is equal opportunity,
not equal outcome; and
• Anyone can achieve the
“American Dream”.
Source: Meg Bostrom, For an Economy that Works for All
Inequality Happens
Narratives We’re up Against
Poverty is….
• a result of poor choices or
bad morals
• not as bad as it used to be or
as it is elsewhere
• a temporary state because
of America’s unique
economic mobility
• not solvable and attempting
to solve it will be expensive
and will cause dependence
Some Public Beliefs Work for Us . . .
• Hard work should be valued and rewarded
• Working people are struggling
• People are judging the economy based on
their perceptions of how they and people
like them are doing.
• We can all work together to find solutions
Speaking to Values
Directs Thinking
Values Matter
• We reason first from deeply held
values.
• Values help answer: “Why does
this matter to me/us?”
• We need to start with Values, not
with the policy and program
details
Levels of Thinking
• Level One – Big ideas:
protection, justice, family well-being,
equality, opportunity, prosperity
• Level Two – Issues:
housing, the environment, children’s issues,
workforce development
• Level Three – Policies:
pay equity, bycatch, SCHIP presumptive
eligibility, EITC
Why does this matter? Families without housing face
a staggering number of obstacles. Children can suffer
from poor academic performance, have higher rates
of asthma, ear infections, stomach problems, and
speech problems, and are at higher risk of mental and
physical trauma. Parents struggling with housing
security find it difficult to get and keep a job, pursue
educational goals, and provide adequate care and
attention to their families. By creating opportunities
for families to build economic and housing security,
families can build better lives and our communities
will be stronger.
Speak to Values First
We know that communities are stronger and
healthier when at-risk families get the help they
need to find and stay in safe, affordable housing.
With housing, families improve their childrens’
education, find stable employment, and have a
deeper sense of belonging in their neighborhood.
This is why the public sector should partner with
nonprofit organizations and others to give every
family the opportunity to have a safe and stable
home.
Aspiration
Chicken Little
Desperation
Crisis or Solution?
Chicken Little
What’s Wrong
Why it Matters
What Can be Done
What Can be Done
Why it Matters
What’s Wrong
Solution Oriented Language
An example:
- “We know what works.”
- “We can solve this problem.”
- “There’s a tested solution for this.”
Portrait
Landscape
Different Stories > Different Solutions
•
•
•
•
•
•
Portraits
Individuals
Events
Private
Appeal to consumers
Better information
Fix the person
•
•
•
•
•
•
Landscapes
Issues
Trends
Public
Appeal to citizens
Better Policies
Fix the Condition
- Based on work by Iyengar and Gilliam
Ripple Effects
What are all the ways we are all affected?
Supports
other local
businesses
Grocery
Store
Owner
Supports
local
community
food systems
Farmer
Helps
neighbors
Family
graduates
from IDA
Initiative
and Starts
Business
Neighbor
Family
economic
stability &
saving
Other IDA
accounts
opened
IDA
Provider
Teacher
Mom &
Dad are
closer to
their jobs
Kids get
involved in
afterschool
activities
Employer
Through the
IDA Initiative, a
new Home is
purchased
Family gains
a new
community
Mom’s stress
decreases,
health
improves
Neighbor
IDA
Program
Staff
Family
creates
emergency
fund.
Doctor,
Nurse
Shared Benefit
"In our personal ambitions we are
individualists. But in our seeking for
economic and political progress as a nation,
we all go up, or else we all go down, as one
people.”
-- President Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Message Box
• A tool to keep you “on message”
• Helps distill your key arguments to the ones you
need to repeat over and over.
• Keeps you focused on Level One Values and
Solutions
• Gives you the “cheat sheet” for interviews and
debates.
• The place you bridge and pivot back to from hard
questions and damaging frames.
Vision
Problem
Solution
Values
Your vision for the community, state,
society. A sense of the purpose and
goal that drives you to seek the
change you are working for. Your
aspiration and inspiration.
A clear statement
The solution you
of the problem you
are proposing
Vision
are trying to
and the
Problem
Solution
address in a way
principles or
that everyone can
outcomes it is
Values
see their stake in
designed to
addressing the
achieve.
issue.
The Level One Values that underpin the
challenge and your proposed solution.
The answer to the “why does it matter”
question.
Today, we are
facing a defining
moment. It’s clear
that our systems
no longer meet the
needs of our
communities and
our people. Our
investments and
our choices have
opened the door
to opportunity for
some and closed it
for others.
Oregon has a proud history of industry, ingenuity
and independence. Our state’s natural beauty and
resources have sustained us from the earliest days.
Over the years, we’ve used innovation and
creativity to improve our communities and build
We have the tools to
systems and structures to create opportunity.
create a better future.
We can harness our
innovative spirit, our
immense talent, and
Vision
our energy. We can
invest in the people
Problem
Solution
that will make our
future brighter, and
Values
together create a
better future for the
next generation.
Choosing this path, we
Opportunity Prosperity Community
can ensure that every
Oregon Exceptionalism Ingenuity Innovation
person, every family,
We believe in an Oregon where everyone has
every community in
the opportunity to succeed. We can rebuild the
Oregon can prosper.
pathways to prosperity for all Oregonians. We
are strongest when all of our community
members can thrive.
We believe in an Oregon where
everyone has access to opportunity
and a pathway out of poverty.
Today, too many
hardworking
parents don’t
earn enough to
pay their rent and
put food on the
table for their
children. Families
in our community
don’t have access
to opportunity
and pathways out
of poverty. Too
often, one small
event can trigger
a series of
shortfalls and lead
to crisis.
Vision
Problem
Solution
Values
Our communities are better when we work to
provide pathways out poverty. Hardworking
families deserve access to opportunity and a
chance to get ahead.
One of the ways we can
provide access to opportunity
is to help hardworking
families save money and build
assets. The Earned Income
Tax Credit (EITC) is one of the
largest and most effective
programs for low- and
moderate-income families.
Every year Oregon families
use this credit to make ends
meet, to get out of debt, or
start saving for the future.
The EITC gives them a tool to
manage life’s many financial
demands. Oregon should
extend and expand the EITC
to ensure this opportunity for
hardworking families exists.
Our Message Formula
• Statement of Needs (5%)
–What’s the problem?
• Values “hook” (15%)
–Why do I care?
• Solution (80%)
–What can we do about it?
Thanks to Larry Wallack, PSU
Polling Preview
• It’s better for all of us if families have modest financial reserves to
help build a stable foundation, manage life’s emergencies, and
create a better future.
• Having something put aside for emergencies and future goals is the
key to building secure futures. We are all better off if we can create
policies that help families build strong financial practices, build a
foundation for success, and build a brighter future.
• We need to rebuild the middle class in Oregon. That starts with
helping people maintain a firm foundation for success. We need to
build financial stability for Oregonians.
• As a state, we can help make sure all Oregonians can access
pathways to economic stability. We can create pathways for families
to move out of poverty.
Legislative Visit Formula
Message Components
An effective message has three
components:
What is the problem? – Give a specific
example/proof of the need for asset
building and pathways to the middle
class.
Why should I care? – Use a value
statement (see below)
What is the solution? – Define a
specific needed policy step and action
that the listener can take. Our example
= Building pathways to the middle class
through HB 2316, HB 2850 and HB
3436.
You will have ten to fifteen minutes with
your legislator. Use your time carefully.
1.
Introductions
2. Families in your district need to
build financial resilience
Give an example of the need in your
area. Tell a story about the difference
that asset building can make to an
individual or family.
3.
Talk about our priority items.
4. Ask if we can count on their
support to help ensure that all
Oregonians have the chance to build
financial resilience and ask for their
ideas
5. Thank them for taking the time to
discuss asset building. Leave on time.
Legislative Update
• Earned Income Tax
Credit (HB 2850/SB 507)
• IDA Initiative
Retirement Savings (HB
2316A)
• Retirement Security (HB
3436)
Essential Strategies
• Think about Order. Make a deliberate
choice.
• System and landscape stories evoke
policy solutions.
• Focus on Solution – We know what
works!
• Focus on Values and Interdependence.
The American Dream
“ . . . life should be better and richer
and fuller for everyone, with
opportunity for each according to
ability or achievement . . . regardless
of the fortuitous circumstances of
birth or position . . .
- James Truslow Adams, 1931