2012 ACA Institute for Leadership
Training: Lobbying Visit Preparation
Conference call – June 13th
ACA Office of
Public Policy and
Legislation
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
1
Goals of this call
• Explain why your lobbying visits are so important
• Walk through what’s going to happen between now and July
•
•
•
•
•
2
27th
Walk through what’s going to happen July 27th
Show you how to identify your Representative, so you can let
us know who it is, and
Walk you through requesting a meeting with your
Representative
Provide background on the VA and school counseling issues
you’ll be talking about in your lobbying visits
Q&A
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Constituents are listened to MUCH more than lobbyists
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
source: “Communicating With Congress,” Congressional Management Foundation, 2005
Contacts to Congress have exploded
Organizational,
Personal Development
source: Congressional ManagementLeadership,
Foundation,
2008
Quotes from House staff
--“One hundred form letters have less direct value than a single
thoughtful letter generated by a constituent of the Member’s
district.”
--“Form letters are a waste of everyone’s time.”
CMF report: “Quality is more persuasive than quantity….
The content matters. The operating assumption of many
congressional staff is that the more time and effort
constituents take to communicate, the more passionately
they care about the issue.”
source: “Communicating With Congress,” Congressional Management Foundation,
5
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
2005
Survey Question
“If your Member/Senator has not already arrived at a
firm decision on an issue, how much influence might the
following advocacy strategies directed to the
Washington office have on his/her decision?”
6
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
In-Person Visits from Constituents
97%
Contact From Constituents' Reps.
96%
Individualized Postal Letters
90%
Individualized Email Messages
88%
Phone Calls
86%
Telephone Town Hall Comments
85%
Visit From a Lobbyist
82%
News Editorial
75%
Individualized Faxes
70%
Form Postal Letters
54%
Form Email Messages
51%
Postcards
45%
Comments on Social Media Sites
42%
Form Faxes
30%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
A Lot of Positive Influence
Some Influence
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Source: Congressional Management Foundation
80%
90%
100%
Which contact has “A lot of influence”?
46%
In-Person Visit from Constituent
8%
Lobbyist Visit
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Source: Congressional Management Foundation
50%
What ACA will do between now and July 27th
• Schedule lobbying visit for you and other counselors from your
•
•
•
•
9
state with both of your Senate offices, once we know which
issue(s) will be discussed
Prepare briefing papers & handouts for you to give to
congressional staff
Wednesday, July 11th – second conference call, at 2:00pm
Eastern
Week of July 16th – we’ll send out an e-mail with issue updates
and lobbying messages
July 26th – training on visits, distribution of briefing
papers to give staff, talking points, etc.
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
What we need you to do before July 27th
• ASAP, we need you to complete the online survey – at
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/2012DayontheHill – so that
we know A) who your Representative is and B) what issue
(school counseling or VA) you want to lobby on
• Once we give you the go-ahead, schedule a lobbying visit with
your Representative’s office (after Guila contacts you to let you
know if anyone else will be joining you in that visit).
• Collect anecdotes and information on your issues from your
community/state
• Learn a little about your Senators and Representative
10
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
11
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Scheduling a meeting with your Rep’s office
[After you hear from Guila]
1. Find out who your Representative is by visiting http://www.house.gov
2. Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121, and when the operator
3.
4.
5.
6.
12
answers, ask to be connected to your member’s office (“Could I get
Congressman Jim Moran’s office, please?”)
When the Representative’s receptionist answers, tell him or her who you are,
that you’re a constituent of the Congressman’s/woman’s, that you’ll be in D.C.
making visits on Capitol Hill on Friday, July 27th in conjunction with a
leadership meeting of the American Counseling Association, and that you’d
like to meet with the Representative or a staff member to discuss
Tell the receptionist that given your Senate visit schedule that morning, you’d
like to meet at 12:00 noon (or at 11:45, or 12:15)
If possible, get the name and e-mail address of the person you’ll be meeting
with
When you get a meeting, e-mail Guila (gtodd@counseling.org) with the
office, time, and staff person’s name
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Federal education law & spending –
what’s NOT happening this year
Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act
(aka “No Child Left Behind”) is dead, although House floor votes
may happen
• House ESEA approach: cut lots of stuff—including Elementary
and Secondary School Counseling Program—pass several
small bills (state flexibility, teachers, streamlining).
• Senate approach: traditional, single bill
• House Education & Workforce Committee bill isn’t bipartisan,
Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee
won’t take Senate’s bill to floor if House can’t come up with a
bipartisan bill
13
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Who funds education?
Percentage distribution of revenues for public elementary and
secondary education in the United States, by source: 2008–09
Federal
(8.2%)
State
(48.3%)
Local
(43.5%)
NOTE: Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for
Education Statistics, Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public
Education Financial Survey (NPEFS)," fiscal year 2009, Version 1a.
14
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Federal Spending – Where does it go?
15
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Federal Spending – Where’s education?
16
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Federal support for school counseling
Percentage distribution of total current expenditures for public elementary and
secondary education in the United States, by function: 2008–09
Operations
(18%)
Instruction and
instruction related
(65.8%)
Administration
(10.8%)
The Elementary and
Secondary School
Counseling Program
(ESSCP) falls within
this area
Student support
services
(5.4%)
17
NOTE: ”Student support services” includes attendance and social work, guidance,
health, psychological services, speech pathology, audiology, and other services.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics,
Common Core of Data (CCD), "National Public Education Financial Survey (NPEFS),"
fiscal year 2009, Version 1a.
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
House initiatives supporting school counseling
• H.R. 667 – the “Put School Counselors Where They’re
Needed Act” – introduced by Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA). Bill
would create $5 million pilot project to support the hiring of
school counselors in at least 10 troubled, low-income high
schools.
• H.R. 1995 – the “Reducing Barriers to Learning Act” –
introduced by Rep. Dave Loebsack (D-IA). Establishes an
Office of Specialized Instructional Support within the U.S.
Dept of Education, and authorizes a competitive grant
program for establishing and expanding school counseling
and related programs.
18
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
The Ask: School counseling
Ask your Senators to contact Senator Tom Harkin in support of
the Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program
(ESSCP). This is the only federal education program focused
solely on supporting school counselors and related services
personnel.
Ask your Representative to maintain the Elementary and
Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP), and to
cosponsor H.R. 667 and H.R. 1995, House bills supporting
school counseling services. School counseling is not an optional
school service. School counselors help ensure students are ready
to learn and reach their potential, but state budget pressures are
placing school counseling jobs on the chopping block.
19
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
VA- The Basics
• In 2006, Congress authorized the VA to hire counselors in VA
medical facilities (P.L. 109-461), but it took the VA until
September 28, 2010 to establish the “LPMHC” occupation
• On April 19, 2012- the VA announces that it will be creating
1,600 new mental health clinician positions in anticipation of
a report that highlights problems in the VA
• On April 23, 2012, the VA Office of the Inspector General
issued a scathing report showing that the VA was not
meeting the mental health needs of veterans.
• The next day, as part of their PR efforts, the VA announces it
will add counselors to the VA workforce to treat veterans,
even though they have been empowered to do so for almost
six years
20
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
The “Ask”: VA
• The VA created a task force to recruit and fill these 1,600 new
positions, ACA should be part of that task force so we can
help them hire counselors!
• The VA should also add counselors to their training program
under the Office of Academic Affiliations. These programs a
proven pathway to a career in the VA and counselors have
been shut-out for too long.
• Tell your federal representatives that the VA should work
with ACA to find counselors that can be hired for traditional
“hard to fill” positions.
• Every 80 minutes, a veteran takes their own life. That
shouldn’t happen, ACA can help and Congress needs to make
that happen.
21
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Medicare – What’s happening this year
• Physician payments cut ~27% on January 1st, unless Congress
acts, due to scheduled changes in Medicare’s Sustainable
Growth Rate (“SGR”)
• Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates the 10-year cost
(2012-2021) of eliminating physician pay cuts at over $300
billion. In comparison: 10-year cost of LPC/MFT coverage =
$400 million; 5-year cost = $100 million
• Congress is expected to “fix” Medicare physician payment
rates in an end-of-year legislative package, perhaps including
extension of Bush tax cuts and Budget Control Act provisions
to avoid sequestration
• With enough cosponsors on S. 604 (our Medicare coverage
legislation), we might get a seat on this train!
22
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
The “Ask”: Medicare
Ask your Senators to cosponsor S. 604, the “Seniors Mental
Health Access Improvement Act”. This is bipartisan, extremely
low-cost legislation which has been passed twice by both the
Senate and House, but has not yet become law
Ask your Representative to consider introducing a House
counterpart bill to S. 604, the “Seniors Mental Health Access
Improvement Act”
23
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
What’s a “cosponsor”?
A member of congress is said to be the sponsor of a bill when he
or she is the person who introduced the bill.
A member of congress can cosponsor a bill by asking the bill’s
sponsor to add their name as a cosponsor. Cosponsoring a bill
shows support for the legislation.
A member of congress who has agreed to cosponsor a bill before
it is formally introduced is said to be an original cosponsor of the
legislation. Original cosponsors of legislation have their names
listed behind the bill sponsor’s name when the legislation is
printed.
The number—and make up—of a bill’s list of cosponsors shows
what kind of support the legislation has.
24
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
25
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
26
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
What happens on July 27th (TENTATIVE)
8:30am
9:15-9:35am
~10:00am
~11:00am
~12:00 noon
~12:45pm
~1:15pm
~2:15pm
28
Buses leave hotel for Capitol Hill
Photos in front of the U.S. Capitol
Lobbying visit to first Senate office
Lobbying visit to second Senate office
House lobbying visit
Buses leave Capitol Hill for ACA
Lunch
Tour of ACA
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
U.S. Capitol and Congressional
office buildings
3-4
6
1
2
5
29
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
30
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Lobbying visits are simple!
• Enter the office and introduce yourself to the receptionist. Tell
the receptionist who you have an appointment with.
• When the staff person comes out, introduce yourself, make
small talk, ask if they’re from the state, etc.
• Explain who school counselors, or licensed professional
counselors, are
• Make the “ask”: Say what you want their boss to do
• Ask if you can follow up with the staff person in ~2 weeks
• Get their card, and contact them again from back home
You won’t be expected to know all the answers! If you’re asked
something you don’t know, just say “I don’t know, I’ll check and
get back to you.”
31
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
How helpful is it to include…
Information about the impact the bill would
have on the district
77%
Constituent’s reasons for
supporting/opposing the bill or issue
74%
Personal story related to the bill or issue
48%
0%
Helpful
20%
40%
60%
Very Helpful
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Source: Congressional Management Foundation
80%
100%
Tell them what you think!
“I have told paid lobbyists for years that any
lobbyist worth his salt will concentrate on
getting my constituents to tell me what they
think…not what he thinks. He better spend his
time getting them to write me because that’s
what I listen to.”
- Republican Senator
33
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Source: Congressional Management Foundation
WARNING:
You’ll probably be walking about 1.5 miles over the
course of the day on Friday (although not all at
once!) during your lobbying visits. You may want to
practice!
Wear comfortable shoes.
Taxis are an option, if you
need one.
34
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development
Our contact info:
Q&A
Q&A
Scott Barstow -- ph: 800-347-6647 x234
e-mail: sbarstow@counseling.org
Art Terrazas -- ph: 800-347-6647 x242
e-mail: aterrazas@counseling.org
Guila Todd -- ph: 800-347-6647 x354
e-mail: gtodd@counseling.org
35
Leadership, Organizational, Personal Development