Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF

1
Getting it Through the Legislature

• Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF
• ARRL New England Vice Director

2
Where do you start?

• Forming a team
• Influential hams
• SGL
• SM
• Division director/vice director
• VCs
• PIOs
• Its going to be a lot of work!
• But itll be worth it!!

3
What is your legislative process?

• Where do you start? house or senate
• Understanding the committee structure
• Choosing a committee
• Moving between houses
• It may be far more complex than you imagine!!
• Plan on more than one try

4
Drafting a Bill

• What type of bill?
• Simple PRB-1
• Guaranteed minimum height
• Graduated height
• Cover CCRs?
• Who drafts the bill?
• Who vets the bill?
• How about an amendment instead of a bill?
• A simple resolution can be helpful, too

5
Finding SponsorsSearching for Connections

• Get names and addresses of all legislators and
  all key state officials
• Run their names through the FCC database
• Run their addresses through the FCC database
• Look for children, parents, and neighbors with a
  ham radio connection
• Ask every influential ham you can find if they
  have a state government connection
• Build a complete database and use it

6
Finding SponsorsSponsors to Avoid

• Your objective is to get the bill passed, not
  merely to get it submitted
• Look out for legislators doing cheap favors
• Ask why is this legislator supporting us?
• Look out for legislators in trouble

7
Marshalling SupportThe Ham Community

• Objective to have all hams delivering one
  consistent message
• Dont let the cat out of the bag too soon
• Weeding out troublemaking hams
• Hams with a grudge
• Fat egos
• The all or nothing ham
• The nutcase

8
Marshalling SupportNatural Allies

• Federal and state emergency management
• Private emergency groups
• Public safety
• Public events
• Educators

9
Marshalling SupportNatural Opponents

• Possible opposition
• Municipalities and their organizations
• Some environmentalists
• Cell phone haters
• Historical groups
• Strategies
• Try to sneak it by
• Try to negotiate with them
• Play defense

10
Supporting the Legislative ProcessWitnesses and
Hearings

• Pick witnesses for their demeanor
• Keep it brief. Understand how to use your 15
  minutes of fame
• Be prepared with salient testimony
• Engineering
• Emergency
• Environmental and safety
• Prepare and rehearse the hard questions
• Have people on call

11
Supporting the Legislative ProcessCollateral
Materials

• Fact sheet for legislators and interested
  officials
• How much to say
• What not to say
• FAQs
• Address the hard questions, but do it carefully
• Feel good materials
• The Cronkite CD
• News clippings
• The elevator speech

12
Supporting the Legislative ProcessDamage Control

• Understand up front where you can give a little
• Know when to withdraw a bill
• Handling the loose cannon

13
Supporting the Legislative ProcessDealing with
the Press

• Getting air time
• Getting newsprint
• Prepare good materials

14
Supporting the Legislative ProcessThe Letter
Writing Campaign

• How legislators perceive letters
• Make the letters individualized and unique
• Timing the letter campaign
• Teaching hams how to write letters
• Email works, but letters are better
• Dont forget direct contact!

15
Supporting the Legislative ProcessHow to Write a
Letter

• Make it unique
• Identify the writer
• Identify the writers address and legislative
  district
• Identify the bill by number
• Express support
• Give reasons
• Avoid any technical complexity
• Keep it short 1 page if possible

16
Resources

• VCs they may know the system FIND THEM!!
• Headquarters Regulatory Information Branch,
  reginfo_at_arrl.org CONTACT THEM!!
• Fred Hopengartens book www.arrl.org/catalog
  READ IT!!
• Me Mike Raisbeck, k1twf_at_arrl.org CALL ME!!