The start of the 2024 legislative sessions is right around the corner. As your team completes its legislative session prep, learn more about our strategies to supercharge your legislative impact.
Preparing for the legislative session takes a significant amount of time. To prepare for the legislative session, your team’s priorities might include researching issues, reviewing priorities, and setting goals. In this article, we’ll explore strategies to:
- Research and understand the issues.
- Review your constituent concerns, priorities, or your organization’s mission.
- Set legislative goals – the more focused the better!
The work you put in ahead of session can be pivotal in determining your legislative success. Whether you’re an active citizen, advocate, or legislative leader, these tips can inform your policy work.
Understand the Legislative Process
Understanding the legislative process is key to successful legislative organizing and advocacy. Whether you’re working in Congress or in State House(s), there are a few important steps to understand.
Introductions
Bills are introduced between January and October, depending on the jurisdiction. Typically, prefiled bills are introduced earliest. Prefiled bills are bills from previous sessions that have not been voted through yet. They reflect the priorities of political parties and leading legislators. Taking a close look at the first introduced bills from leaders. This might include the Speaker and minority leaders of the House and Senate. These bills will give you helpful insights into priority issues for the session.
Committee Assignments
Committee assignments occur after bill introductions. These assignments are related to the bills’ topic of focus, as well as any approvals required within each bill. For instance, a bill focusing on increased budget for education would likely be assigned to two committees — the Education Committee and the Appropriations or Budget Committee. This is because the bill focuses on both education and budget. The Education Committee would determine whether the bill is appropriate and realistic. Further, the Appropriations or Budget Committee would be required to approve or deny the investment.
Committee Actions
The chair of each committee decides whether to allow the bill to be heard and debated. This can include a period for public testimony, either for or against the bill. This also means that the chair has the power to stifle the progress of legislation by not allowing for debate or hearings. This is where the phrase “died in committee” comes from. Bills that die are not be sent to the floor of the chamber for a vote by all elected members.
Floor Debates and Voting
After a bill successfully moves out of committee, it heads to the floor for debate and voting. During a floor debate, legislators provide speeches for or against the bill in front of the entire chamber. During a vote, each member has the opportunity to vote ‘yes’, ‘no’, or abstain from voting. If a bill does not pass, the presiding leader may reintroduce it for a debate and re-vote.
Preparing for the Legislative Session: What To Look Out For
There are many ways to approach organizing, advocating, and lobbying during a legislative session. Funding, personnel, time, and other factors may determine your approach. Here are a few key things to look out for as you determine how to push forward in your legislative efforts.
The Politics of Legislative Responses
With the 24-hour news cycle, legislative responses be well-timed. Researching, honing in on constituent concerns, and setting legislative goals is key. Connecting with key staff and legislators becomes crucial as the topic you’re advocating for is at the head of the news cycle. Strategizing these connections can also elevate your issue to the forefront of the conversation. For instance, say your organization’s mission is to increase access to healthcare. It’s essential to be prepared with written materials, statistics, and events by March, when annual insurance plans are renewed.
Hearings
Hearings are essential aspects of the legislative process. They can be informal, with interested constituents and elected officials. Hearings can also be more formal, in the case of committee hearings. During a hearing, experts provide essential information to the public and elected officials. They examine the legislation’s positive and negative impacts.
Legislator and Staffer Information
Paying attention to legislator and staff data is key to planning for the legislative session. Since the legislative session is the busiest time of year for legislators, oftentimes your main contact will be staff. Staffers provide legislators with information, research, and news on the bills at hand. Keeping in contact with staff members is a key step in coalition building. Gathering support from legislators is a crucial step towards collective action on the issues you care about.
With Plural, it’s easy to discover legislator and staffer data — get started today.
When Does the Legislative Session Start?
The legislative session is right around the corner. Most states will begin their sessions within the first two weeks of January. Using Plural to monitor bills, read priority statements, and learning about legislators will be essential to an educated start to the session.
Book a Demo
Plural is the legislative tracking and intelligence tool of choice for effective public policy teams. Plural’s premium data, tools to get organized and collaborate, and revolutionary AI-powered insights will supercharge your policy impact. Book a demo today to learn more.
