Principles and Techniques to Working Effectively with State and National Leaders

1
Principles and Techniques to Working Effectively
with State and National Leaders

• Sue Gallagher
• June 27, 2004

2
Objectives

• Provide context in which policy makers operate
• Understand the role advocates play in public
  health
• Be familiar with effective strategies for
  communicating with policy makers
• Discuss challenges involved in implementing
  effective strategies

3
Advocacy vs Lobbying

• Advocacy
• Education
• Bi Partisan
• Facts
• Activities that defend, support or maintain a
  cause

• Lobbying
• Legislation
• Regulation
• Funding
• Activities aimed at influencing public officials
  to promote or secure passage of L, R, or F.

4
CONTEXT

• The Environment

5
The Health Team

• Legislative Director
• Biweekly health team meetings
• Public health domestic
• Public health global
• Medical research (NIH, CDC, DOD)
• Food safety, FDA regs, ephedra, mad cow

6
The Durbin Health Team

• Childrens issues
• Mental health
• Public health workforce
• Health insurance including medical malpractice

7
Office Positions The Food Chain

• Interns
• Staff Assistants
• Legislative Correspondents
• Legislative Assistants
• Legislative Fellows
• Legislative Director

8
Office Positions

• Press Secretary
• Chief of Staff
• The Scheduler powerful
• The Member
• District Office Director
• Caseworkers

9
Responsibilities

• Global AIDS,TB and malaria
• Medical research NIH, DOD, CDC
• Stem cell research
• Mental health
• Public health workforce
• Injury violence prevention on occasion
• Temporary staff hearings for foreign ops
  appropriations subcommittee

10
What does a Fellow do?Week one!!!!

• Meet with outside interest groups
• Develop response to media reports
• Draft letter to the President prior to State of
  the Union address
• Assist drafting nomination for Nobel Peace Prize
• Think budget strategy in anticipation of
  Presidents budget
• READ, READ, READ, READ

11
What else does a Fellow do?

• Escape hood training Ricin/safety
• Keep up-to-date on topics
• Attend relevant briefings
• Touch bases with relevant outside groups weekly
• Develop talking points for Senator
• dinner speeches, Senate floor, tributes,
  briefings
• Scrutinize Administration plans

12
What else does a Fellow do?

• Analyze Presidents budget How?
• Develop budget resolution strategy How?
• Develop amendment to budget resolution What
  will fly?
• Rally the troops
• Facilitate development of opinion editorials
• Assess success of current programs
• Prepare for budget resolution conference report
• Submit topics for FO appropriations wish list

13
What else does a Fellow do?

• Identify opportunities proactively
• Develop Dear Colleague Letters
• Find Republican sponsor
• Rally the troops
• Staff hearings
• Develop opening statement
• Develop questions for witnesses
• Submit questions for the record

14
What else does a Fellow do?

• Develop ideas for bills
• Assess climate
• Identify co-sponsor from other party
• Compromise on content
• Draft bill with help from Leg Counsel
• Obtain endorsement from outside groups
• Introduce bill

15
How do Congressional Members Communicate?

• Dear Colleague letter sign ons
• Briefings
• Committee Hearings
• Statement for the Record
• Floor Discussion/Morning Hour
• Press Conference
• Resolutions

16
Why should you communicate?

• Champions identify new volunteers, identify new
  funding, write letters
• Connected members of community bring in new
  partners business leaders, funders, coalition
  members, volunteers, media
• Problem solvers for challenges plenty of
  contacts to connect you with solutions
• Be informed -Hear stories about your program and
  people

17
Kaiser Survey Getting Information Out

• Of all the information related to health policy,
  what percentage do you
• Read in detail
• Skim for general content
• Never read
• Information overload You aint seen nothing!

18
Kaiser Survey Getting Information Out

• Read in detail 22
• Skim 51
• Never read 39
• Only 1/3 of information received on health care
  topics is useful!!

19
What newspapers?

• Washington Post 6.2 per/week
• New York Times 4 times per week
• Wall Street Journal 3.2 per/week
• Washington Times 3.2 per week

20
Kaiser Type ofinformation read

• Electronic 55
• Hard copy 18
• About the same 27

21
What journals?

• Health Affairs 43
• NEJM 24
• JAMA 21
• HCFA Review 11

22
Who do you trust?

• Kaiser Family Foundation 34
• RWJ Foundation 13
• Center for Studying Health
• System Change 13
• Urban Institute 9
• Commonwealth Fund 9

23
What makes info

• Most useful
• Timely 68
• Concise 20
• Readable 13
• Credible 12

• Least useful
• Too long 28
• Biased 19
• Irrelevant 19
• Not timely 17

24
Effective Technique The Visit

• Identify who, policy maker and staff
• Request in writing not more than 2 weeks ahead
• Be informed - Do your homework interests,
  passion, background, links to your issue

25
Effective Technique The Visit

• Identify who, policy maker and staff
• Request in writing not more than 2 weeks ahead
• Be informed - Do your homework interests,
  passion, background, links to your issue

26
Effective Technique The Visit

• Expect to only meet with staff
• Be on time
• Be prepared - one page fact sheet
• Be brief and focused (15-30 minutes)
• Question them heard about issues you are
  raising, familiar with your area
• Develop an Ask

27
The ASK

• An action
• Linked to an interest
• Advance your programs work
• X comment on specific legislation
• X request an appropriation
• X X participate in political campaign

28
The ASK

• Pull together an advisory or task force of
  business leaders
• Write letter of support or introduction
• Chair an event
• Speak at an event
• Tribute letter
• Visit a program in the field a Meet and Greet
  opportunity

29
The ASK

• Write an op-ed letter on an issue (local paper)
• Host a briefing or a meeting (volunteer
  recognition luncheon)
• Write a statement to recognize your program or
  topic Congressional record
• Put a link on website to your program

30
More on the Visit

• Thank you note
• Stay in touch be a resource and keep then
  engaged
• Stay on top of your issue

31
Effective Technique The Op Ed Tool

• Policy makers and aides read regularly.
• Able to track issues important to constituents
• Cheap way to address public opinion
• Your wordsno misquoting
• Best way to explain a complex issue

32
Timing in the Senate

• State of the Union Jan - definite
• Presidents Budget Feb - definite
• The Wish List - March
• Budget Resolution - Mar/Apr
• BR Conference Report - May/June/July
• Appropriations Subcommittee Mark-ups June/July

33
Timing in the Senate

• Full Appropriations - June/July
• FA Conference Committee - July
• Hearings - ongoing
• Resolutions ongoing
• Amendments ongoing
• Bills ongoing at the majority leaders
  discretion

34
Timing in the Senate

• Authorization Committees
• Same process
• Ideally sequentially
• Reality - simultaneously

35
Budget ResolutionGlobal AIDS

• Goal 3.6 billion with 1 billion for Global
  Fund
• 792 million amendment to the budget resolution
• Offset eliminate tax reduction if make more
  than 1 million per year
• Switch in offset 920 government administrative
  expense account
• 10 Amendment Co-Sponsors How?

36
The How for Global AIDS

• Bread for the World
• DATA
• Global AIDS Alliance
• Friends of the Global Fund
• Results
• Interaction
• Save the Children

37
Dear Colleague Strategy

• Target both Foreign Operations and Labor HHS
  Appropriations subcommittee chairs and ranking
  members
• Republican co-sponsor (5 weeks)
• Alter language slightly
• Add funds for UNAIDS and WHO

38
Bottom Line

• 3.6 billion total overall for Global AIDS
• At least 1.2 billion for the Global Fund
• 350 million from all sources for global TB
  control efforts
• 36 million for WHO and 30 million for UNAIDS

39
Results

• 22 sign-ons
• 2 Republicans including cosponsor
• Publicity hounds would not sign on
• Santorum!!! and Leahy team up to do a briefing
  about the Global Fund next week

40
Foreign Ops Appropriations Subcommittee Hearings

• Sec of State Colin Powell
• Coordinator, Office of Counter Terrorism,
  Ambassador Black
• Administrator, USAID, Andrew Natsios
• Coordinator, State Dept Global AIDS Office,
  Ambassador Tobias
• Founder of DATA, Bono

41
AIDS Issues

• Presidents promise
• ARVs generic drugs
• WHO pre qualification
• 15th country biggest bang for buck
• Global Fund
• Absorptive capacity

• Integrating TB AIDS
• Malaria
• Orphans
• On the ground TA
• ABC (light on C)
• Vaccines
• Microbicides

42
Expectations

• Young staff - yes and no
• Report to health leg assistant - no
• Tiny crammed office area - yes
• Diversity of issues yes
• Busy yes
• Camaraderie yes
• Working with outside groups yes

43
Expectations

• Breadth vs depth no, both
• Level of responsibility no, much greater
• Pace no, much faster
• Gatekeeper no idea
• Appropriations interest no way
• Number of relevant briefings no
• Isolation of Hill staff no

44
Lessons Learned

• How health effects the economy and stability of a
  country
• Turf issues not just partisanship
• Importance of being bipartisan to pass
  legislation champions on both sides
• Control by party the Administration
• Difficulty in bringing issues to the floor

45
Secretary of State Colin Powell

• AIDS
• more devastating than any terrorist attack, any
  conflict or any weapon of mass destruction.AIDS
  can destroy countries and destabilize entire
  regions

46
Lessons Learned

• Policy makers are DELUGED with health policy
  information, much of it not relevant or useful
• Health policy organizations do not always provide
  the right kind of information

47
Lessons Learned

• Info must be relevant to current issue
• Reliance on news media and summaries, not
  detailed pubs
• Packaged information that is short, digestible,
  and timely

48
Lessons Learned

• Power of individuals collectively
• Importance of outside relationships
• Stay informed
• Strategy development
• Reality check
• Coordination
• Communicate to other side freely
• Mobilization of grass roots

49
Lessons Learned

• Staff coordinate the advocacy work to get a bill
  to move.
• Outside troops are essential to help, apply
  pressure and craft the best compromise from
  policy makers
• Science may be second to idealogy.

50
Lessons Learned

• Relationships and credibility
• Providing a uniform front must agree internally
  get rid of petty differences before going to
  Capitol Hill