Building Bipartisan Coalitions for Effective Advocacy

1. Advanced Advocacy Building Bipartisan Coalitions to Advance Policy Catherine Finley Thorn Run Partners

2. How to Prepare for an Effective Meeting • Know the Political Landscape • What is the Legislative Focus of Congress • Learn the Legislative Focus of the Member • Identify a Connection with the Member at the Local Level

3. Political Landscape • President Trump has been in office for approximately 15 months • There have been a lot of controversies • Health care reform failed, Tax reform passed • The House is controlled by Republicans: • Republicans have the majority with 23 seats – not a large margin in a divided caucus • A red seat in Pennsylvania was lost following an unexpected retirement • 42 Republicans have announced their retirement, with five already resigning • Speaker Ryan resigned, and the battle to replace Speaker Ryan is underway • The Senate is controlled by Republicans • Republicans have 51 votes – no ability to pass bills under regular order – needs 60 votes • Republicans lost an open Senate Seat in Alabama – the reddest of states • An easy 2018 mid-term election for Republicans is shaping up to be a challenge

4. Legislative Focus of Congress Senate • With only 51 Republican votes it is extremely difficult to pass legislation • Senate led bipartisan effort to pass a two-year budget deal • Leader McConnell is focused on advancing nominations and judges, he does not want to debate health care or other controversial issues • Senate Republicans want to talk about the tax reform bill House • The House is working on a number of controversial issues in committee, including expanding work requirements for safety-net program eligibility • The pathway to floor consideration of the controversial issues remains questionable because moderate Republicans do not want to take controversial votes • Work weeks are shrinking because of limited number of bills ready for floor consideration

5. Legislative Focus of Members Questions to ask yourself about the member • What issues are of interest to the member? • Check his webpage • Look for public statements • Look at press released/newspaper stories • On which committees does he/she sit? • Usually found on webpage • Does he/she have a leadership role in their party or on committee/subcommittee • What type of bills has he/she introduced or cosponsored? • https://www.congress.gov// • Are they focused on health care • Are they focused on mental health or substance use

6. Connection at the Local Level The best way to connect with a member or their staff is to connect with a local issue that matters. Opioid addiction and overdoses is a focus on Congress • Explain what is happening in the state/district around mental health/substance use • What role does your organization play in prevention, treatment, recovery • Use this story to connect to the advocacy issues: • Pick the bills that matter most to you/your organization • Explain why these bills matter and what it would mean to the community • How can the member be helpful • Cosponsor the bill • Communicate his/her support to committee chairs/ranking members/leadership • Visit your organization or site