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2012 ACA Institute for Leadership Training: Lobbying Visit Preparation Conference call – June 13 th

2012 ACA Institute for Leadership Training: Lobbying Visit Preparation Conference call – June 13 th. ACA Office of Public Policy and Legislation. Goals of this call. Explain why your lobbying visits are so important W alk through what’s going to happen between now and July 27 th

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2012 ACA Institute for Leadership Training: Lobbying Visit Preparation Conference call – June 13 th

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  1. 2012 ACA Institute for Leadership Training: Lobbying Visit Preparation Conference call – June 13th ACA Office of Public Policy and Legislation

  2. Goals of this call • Explain why your lobbying visits are so important • Walk through what’s going to happen between now and July 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 2

  3. Constituents are listened to MUCH more than lobbyists source: “Communicating With Congress,” Congressional Management Foundation, 2005

  4. Contacts to Congress have exploded source: Congressional Management Foundation, 2008

  5. 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.” 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.” --“Form letters are a waste of everyone’s time.” source: “Communicating With Congress,” Congressional Management Foundation, 2005 5

  6. 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

  7. 97% Source: Congressional Management Foundation

  8. Which contact has “A lot of influence”? 46% 8% Source: Congressional Management Foundation

  9. What ACA will do between now and July 27th • Schedule lobbying visit for you and other counselors from your 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. 9

  10. 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

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  12. Scheduling a meeting with your Rep’s office [After you hear from Guila] • Find out who your Representative is by visiting http://www.house.gov • Call the U.S. Capitol Switchboard at 202-225-3121, and when the operator 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 27thin 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 12

  13. 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

  14. Who funds education? 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

  15. Federal Spending – Where does it go? 15

  16. Federal Spending – Where’s education? 16

  17. 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 The Elementary and Secondary School Counseling Program (ESSCP) falls within this area 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. 17

  18. 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

  19. 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 notan 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

  20. 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

  21. 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

  22. 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

  23. 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

  24. 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

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  27. What happens on July 27th (TENTATIVE) 8:30am Buses leave hotel for Capitol Hill 9:15-9:35am Photos in front of the U.S. Capitol ~10:00am Lobbying visit to first Senate office ~11:00am Lobbying visit to second Senate office ~12:00 noon House lobbying visit ~12:45pm Buses leave Capitol Hill for ACA ~1:15pm Lunch ~2:15pm Tour of ACA 28

  28. U.S. Capitol and Congressional office buildings 3-4 6 2 1 5 29

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  30. 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

  31. 77% 74% 48% Source: Congressional Management Foundation

  32. 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 Source: Congressional Management Foundation

  33. 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

  34. Q & A • Q & A • Q & A Our contact info: 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

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