It is spring and they are everywhere. Flocks of constituents, here by the thousands for organized “Hill Days,” are filling up hotels, crowding congressional cafeterias and making the halls of Congress ring with the clatter of earnest shoefalls.
The annual migration is targeted at legislators weighing bills impacting the different professional associations, business groups and other organizations that coordinate these waves of grassroots lobbyists.
“They [constituents] have a lot more sway than Washington lobbyists,” said John Palatiello, executive director of the management Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors.
Many organizations, like the National Association of Counties, have been setting such events for decades — and it is easy to see why. The influx is effective and has been credited with pushing through key changes in medicare and federal spending.
“All politics is local,” said Richard Deem, senior vice president for Advocacy at the American Medical Association. “Members of Congress are more comfortable and more motivated when they are hearing from their constituents.”
Logistics is the biggest challenge. Groups like AMA and the Credit Union National Association, which have state chapters, let state officials set up the appointments. MAPPS, a smaller organization without a network of state offices, sets meetings for its members.
All the organizations, however, provide pre-visit briefings, talking points and packets of materials.
“You have to stay on message,” said Richard Gose, senior vice president of political affairs at CUNA, who called the advance work “critical.” Most organizations also do a “debrief.”
Members who have been to the Hill meet with the organizations lobbying staff to discuss how their meetings went or fill out forms indicating areas for follow-up. MAPPS has even put the forms online.
More recently organizations have been following up in a much fuller fashion. Instead of the single annual pilgrimage to Congress they are coordinating regular visits from members all over the country. About a decade ago CUNA set up Hike the Hill and nowhas a delegation — sometimes several — meeting with members on the Hill every week. AMA also sponsors special briefings and ‘fly ins’ at critical points in the congressional calendar.
“I think you shouldn’t just do it [grassroots lobbying] once,” said Deem. “You need a series of interactions.” But why do the association members, who take time off from their jobs and fly in at their at their own expense, make the journey?
Members see how legislation can impact their lives, said Gose. “They would much rather have a say in their destiny.”
Dee Ann Divis is the business editor of The Washington Examiner. Contact her at [email protected]
