Citizen Lobbyist: A Citizen's Point of View

By Jeffrey Schwartz

“Citizen Lobbyist” explores what it takes to influence elected officials to establish new laws without any formal training. This book tells Jeff Schwartz’s success story as he influenced the creation of a Health Care law in Washington State. Many books provide strategies for citizen lobbying from the point-of-view of insiders and professionals; this book is written for citizens by a citizen. Practical strategies are provided on how to start your journey and explains the necessary sacrifices and connections required to pass a law. Read this book if you are engaged in a legislative effort or are about to embark on one.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781312225374

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Citizen Lobbyist:

A Citizen’s Point of View

Jeffrey Schwartz

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2014 by Jeffrey Schwartz

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review or scholarly journal. For information address: [e-mail]

Printing history

First edition / June 2014

ISBN 978-1-312-22537-4

Dedication

For Jacob

Acknowledgements

I have met so many great people and learned so much along the way. I have already started to apply lessons I learned from this experience to my home and work life. I want to start off by thanking those people that helped make this book happen.

First, I have to thank Cathy for being my rock; without her, none of this would have been possible. I would especially like to thank her for putting up with my SQS (shiny quarter syndrome) and supporting me throughout my journey.

I would also not have been able to succeed without a very large group of people. I will do my best to name them all. I would like to thank my family and friends for their support through this journey, including but not limited to Sam, Jacob, Mom, Dad, Jeff, Dorothy, Amanda, Matt, Larissa, and Tyler. Thank you, Erin, for spending infinite time talking me through the latest hurtle and countless hours doing things that I was not able to do in Olympia.

Thank you, Representative Habib and Senator Frockt, for believing in my cause and fighting with me. A special thank you to Representatives Cody, Morrell, and Hunter and Senators Becker, Hill, and Tom. Thank you to all the lawmakers who met with me and helped me along the way. Thank you, Representatives Habib, Jinkins, Clibborn, Riccelli, Harris, Green, Rodne, Ross, Short, Tharinger, Van De Wege, Springer, Goodman, Tarleton, Fey, McCoy, Appleton, Ryu, Kagi, Hunt, Ornsby, Christian, and Fey. Thank you, Senators Frockt, Dammeier, Pedersen, Angel, Bailey, Cleveland, Keiser, Parlette, Conway, Kohl-Welles, Schilcher, Mullet, and Darneille. These exceptional lawmakers have taken time to sit and listen to me and have done a great thing by helping pass our law.

I would like to say a huge thank you to Victoria. She is an amazing mother and volunteer for APFED. She was really the one that helped me gain my bearings, which started this whole thing. I would like to thank all the people that participated in the public hearing process: Doctor Dooms, Doctor Pisharody, Catriona, Angie, Barbara, Alison, Laura, and Jennifer. Their testimony helped illustrate compelling need within the state and made the difference in seeing this to success.

I would also like to thank the countless legislative assistants and staff: Libby, Daniel, Samantha, Emily, Ariel, Suzette, Kess, Siobhan, Joe, Tiffani, Karen, Marilyn, Kimberlie, Mich’l, Erik, Michelle, Debbie, Tara Jo, Vickie, Yoshi, Mary, Lynda, Breanne, Wanda, Max, William, John, Linda, Maureen, Caron, Kelsey, Jessica, Matthew, Wyatt, Michaela, Kate, Wanda, Leanne, Jacquelin, Miranda, Sandy, and Jane.

I would also like to say thank you to my manager and coworkers for putting up with me being gone on and off over these two years. Thank you to everyone that participated in calling and writing letters to Washington State lawmakers and agencies. Especially, thank you to the 100-plus people that sent e-mails to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner on the need for EGID coverage in Washington State’s EHB. There are no doubt people that I missed—so thank you all.

Preface

As long as people have lived in law-abiding societies, there has been a need to create new laws. The process is not the sole responsibility of elected officials; citizens have been effecting change from the start. The challenges involved in creating laws have remained largely the same over time and the legislative process may appear far away and foreign, though anyone can become involved and make a positive impact.

This book lays out the fundamental success factors for a successful citizen-run lobbying campaign. Why do you need this book? The legislative process is steeped in traditions and procedures. The only way to influence lawmakers is to gain their trust and persevere until the job is complete. The window of opportunity to successfully create or change a law, in any given year, is narrow and fast-paced. The concepts in the book will help you focus your efforts and accelerate your success.

The six success factors presented in this book create a strong foundation on which you can build a successful lobbying campaign. This advice is based on my successful creation of a health-care law in Washington State. The advice is general enough, though, that it should be applicable to your situation and state.

I am writing this book in an attempt to help you be part of your states’ legislative processes. Citizen involvement in the process ensures that our society retains one of its core values of citizen represented democracy and that necessary changes can happen. My journey was an amazing learning experience over the course of two years. I am hopeful that the advice contained in this book will help you have a successful and rewarding experience advocating for change.

Jeff Schwartz

Introduction

One citizen with no formal training in the legislative process can influence the adoption of a state law. Our democratic system is built upon the idea of citizens participating and driving positive changes on issues they are passionate about. It all begins with an idea and some understanding of where and how to start.

For me, it started with the birth of our second son, his diagnosis with a rare disorder, and our subsequent insurance coverage denial. Our story is blessed in many ways—our son is in remission and no longer requires his expensive treatment, for example. I began the process to change the laws in our state with the goal of paying forward our blessings and helping others in our state who require treatment.

Even though my journey started with my actions, it would not have been successful without the efforts of my team. I had passionate and dedicated lawmakers, an effective health lobbyist (one of the good gals), and the support of the Washington Department of Health. There were many other active and silent partners that worked to create the law. In addition, throughout the process, we have had good happenstance and fortunate breaks, and we avoided many potential pitfalls that could have slowed or stopped us.

This book provides information on how to take your idea and turn it into a law. The first section covers our story, from dealing with our issue all the way to passing a law in Washington State. This section puts our strategy and activities into context—how we were successful. The second section highlights the six success factors that I used to pass a law. These success factors are intended to provide guidance on how to successfully pass a law in other states.

The six success factors are: Have a Plan, Organize, Persist, Remain Present, Find the Rhythm of the Legislature, and Content and Process Knowledge. The goal is to provide concrete advice and practical application of these principles through sharing my experience in the Washington State Legislature.

Have a Plan

Writing down your goals and strategy are key to success. This enables those around you to understand how they can help and how they can show support. It also is critical to have a plan. There are so many steps involved in passing a law; a well–thought-out plan is necessary to ensure you remain on track and that obstacles do not slow you down in the future.

Organize

At all times, there are multiple aspects of the process happening at once. As a result, it is critical to organize your thoughts and keep track of your progress. Organization is required before, during, and after meetings. Interacting with a large number of people is a key component to any legislative campaign. Retaining small details about your interactions is key to ensuring that all the right things happen at the right time.

Persist

There is no natural force to guide you toward success in the legislative process. As a result, the drive to succeed has to come from within yourself. Seek people that provide you support and encouragement. There will be many opportunities where you have to decide if you should continue on your current path or try something different. Through everything, you need to persevere.

Remain Present

A substantial portion of the legislative process is handled in-person—in the hallways and in one-on-one conversations. Find a way to remain present to remain top-of-mind for lawmakers and to keep abreast of current events. There is so much business happening in the capital; it is important that your issue bubble to the top often enough to receive attention.

Find the Rhythm of the Legislature

The legislature runs on a natural rhythm. Bills are run through the process in batches, moving from step to step with similar bills. Whereas it is not common for a bill to pass through the process quicker than normal, it is often the case that bills lag behind or even die. Understand the rhythm of the legislature to determine if your bill is flourishing or languishing. Make timely requests to ensure your bill remains out of trouble.

Content and Process Knowledge

As the bill’s champion, you are the domain expert for your issue—this is content knowledge. Your job is to educate those around you and help them assist you. At the same time, the legislature is steeped in traditions and processes. To successfully navigate the legislature, you must know when things are supposed to happen and how to proceed—this is process knowledge. No book, not even this one, will provide all the details necessary to navigate the legislative process, though this should allow you to know where to start.

Section I: Our Story

The Beginning

It takes a village to raise a child.

—African Proverb

Our second son was born a healthy baby boy in September 2007. The first three months of his life were uneventful and very similar to our first son’s early days. This all changed in December 2007, when he began excessively spitting up after nursing. His pediatrician assured us on multiple occasions that some babies just spat up a lot and said not to worry.

By February 2008, my wife and I became concerned with how often he slept and that he seemed thinner. As we dealt with his daily needs and problems, we failed to see the small changes that occurred every day. At his six-month checkup, we received the worst possible news—he was diagnosed with failure to thrive; without immediate medical attention, he was in danger of dying.

Our lives stood still at that moment: