HOW TO ... IDENTIFY YOUR LEGISLATOR'S PRIORITIES

Getting to Know You..Getting to Know All About Youis not just a catchy song from the musical The King and I, it is a central component to successful advocacy.  One of the most effective legislative strategies is to simply link your issue with an issue near and dear to a decision-maker. Fortunately, workforce development is varied enough to link it to almost concern your legislators may have.

WHAT DO I NEED TO KNOW?

• Who are my elected officials?  Each state has two Senators. The number of representatives is based on the population of the state ranging from 53 representatives in California to 1 representative in smaller states such as North Dakota and Wyoming.
• What are their legislative records and general philosophies (if any) related to workforce preparation and development? Nothing irritates staff more than having constituents demand that a legislator cosponsor legislation that the legislator already supports or may even have introduced.
• What issues are they passionate about? Having a sense of what the legislator really cares about offers a tremendous opportunity to frame your issues in their terms.
• Do I have any personal connection with my elected officials? Hobbies, alumni events, even shopping at the same grocery store-all can be the basis for a better long-term relationship, or at least an interesting conversation.
• Who are their key staffers? You can never underestimate the importance of congressional staff. There tends to be a high turnover rate for staffers, especially in the House, so you will need to be prepared for having to continuously educate staffers. This education, however, will pay off in the long run.

WHERE DO I FIND THE ANSWERS?

Answers to these questions for the federal level can be found on individual members' Web pages, accessible through the House and Senate Web pages at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov. More personal information can be found at http://bioguide.congress.gov/biosearch/biosearch.asp

Committee assignments are always a good way to get an idea where your members' interest are. Key committees to check out are committees that have jurisdiction over funding - the House and Senate Appropriations Committees (with a particular emphasis on the Labor, HHS, Education Subcommittee) and committees with jurisdiction over education and labor policy such as the House Committee on Education and the Workforce (with a particular emphasis on the Higher Education, Lifelong Learning, and Competitiveness Subcommittee and the Healthy Families and Communities Subcommittee) and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, particularly the Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety.

In addition, advocates should consider checking www.congress.gov to see what legislation their members of Congress have introduced. For state and local legislators, this information can be found on state and local government Web sites. And don't forget Google-you'll be amazed at what you find!