HO, HO, HOLD THE PRESSES!

By Constance Campanella, President and CEO

Labor Day, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, Veterans Day, Halloween and Valentine’s Day are holidays to most, but for elected officials they are something more–an opportunity to issue press releases, website posts, tweets and other announcements.

With headlines such as “Attorney General Settles with Florist (February 14),” “Avoid Halloween Tricks by Credit Card Companies,” and “Governor Challenges Superintendents at Back to School Gathering.” Attorneys General, Governors, Mayors and state legislators take advantage of the natural news hook of a holiday, season or special event to promote public policy messages.

Last year, a national industry association used the Christmas/Hanukkah gift giving season as the hook and encouraged state Attorneys General to promote safety tips for particular online purchases. The association produced a top ten list of consumer tips and offered the information to AG’s offices.

In all, 11 state AG’s issued press releases or published the information on their websites. The cost was minimal, but the benefit was great. The AG’s offices appreciated help in producing a quality consumer notification. And, while the association did not get public credit for their idea, recognition by the AG’s was more than enough reward.

The flip side is equally noteworthy. Some AG’s use the New Year (or thereabouts) to publish annual Top Ten “Anti-Consumer” lists. Not limited to fraudsters, these lists sometimes include legitimate businesses that are in disfavor or which represent higher cost alternatives to consumers. These lists are published online and lapped up by the print media, especially the content-desperate weeklies. Discovering your legitimate business on these lists can be very troubling, especially given the permanency of information on the web.

So, recognizing that holidays and special seasons are PR and press bait–let’s roll with it and outline both positive and defensive measures you can undertake.

Step 1.   Open your calendar and note the seven (7) day period just prior to a holiday or special season. For Back to School season, note late July to mid-late August. Tax Day is not a holiday, but please mark it as well as St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day and any other “Hallmark” days.

Step 2.   Take a look at your public policy agenda and brainstorm with your colleagues to find any connections to the various special dates you have selected.

Step 3.   Imagine how each of the policy issue items you matched to holidays and seasons could be treated in either a positive or a negative way with respect to your business. This is important. You need to consider both options.

A positive treatment would be like the example above with the national industry association. They wanted to promote safe and legal shopping online and shared that view with the AG’s in a form that was most appealing, usable and respectful.

A negative treatment would be your business or industry earning a spot on a Top Ten Fraud list.

Step 4.   Select the strongest candidates among your “positives” and assemble the supportive information necessary to motivate a public official to adopt it.

When assembling your materials, think in terms of both print and web treatments, so digital versions of maps, charts, graphics and the like may be valuable. Of course, all material must be free of copyright restrictions. And, you have to be modest. You are not likely to get a “by-line” on the work. You are providing valuable information and if it gets adopted, that is your reward.

All information must be impeccably timely and accurate.

Step 5.   If you are trying to avoid being part of a Top Ten bad guys list, then you need to assemble a campaign to displace bad or erroneous impressions of your business.

Start by identifying the officials who typically publish such lists. Then, perform an unvarnished self-analysis to zero in on the aspects of your business that are either misunderstood or disfavored by consumer advocates. Your campaign needs to be built on changing, neutralizing or containing these negatives. (For additional information about designing a custom campaign contact us).

Step 6.   Sell it.

Your outreach to the elected officials you target can include a mass mailing or email, but will always involve direct contact with the officeholders. Positive campaigns—in which you offer ideas for holiday-related messages–can be an excellent vehicle for building relationships with these electeds, even if your offer is not accepted.

With Labor Day a week away, please send us examples that you find of electeds using the holiday to promote their messages.

Aretha Got It Right: R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

By Constance Campanella, President and CEO

At a recent conference of state Attorneys General, a corporate advocate referred to the assembly of almost 30 state AG’s as the “farm team.”   It was meant to juxtapose AG’s against Governors and was intended as a compliment. 

Unfortunately, as a compliment, the reference fell flat.   Actually, it fell right through the floor.   AG’s were offended to be referred to as a “farm team” at their own meeting. 

I also have occasion to work with someone (NOT a client) who constantly refers to state legislators as Members of Congress or State Congressmen.    Despite repeated corrections, the reference persists.    

For as long as I have been in state and local government affairs, I’ve dealt with the fact that the federal arena enjoys higher status.    It is just the way it is. 

And, sometimes, those who toggle between the vaulted chambers of the US Congress and our tiny world of  50 STATES, get confused.   That’s understandable.   Hey, we all make mistakes.

But, as professionals, it is our responsibility to ensure that the individuals we work with on behalf of our organizations or clients know that they enjoy our respect.      

And, it works both ways. 

If you Show Respect, you can Gain Respect. 

My definition of lobbying has long been the “Delivery of Respected Messages. “

When I teach about lobbying, I talk about each of the main words in that definition:  Delivery, Respected and Messages and what they represent.

“Delivery” comprises everything from timeliness, methods of communication, access, relationships and responsiveness.   

“Messages” embraces content, values, negotiating stances, political pressures and perspective.  

“Respected” is the fiber that holds it all together.   Absent a respected messenger or a respected client, nothing works.     A well-delivered, well timed message from a disreputable messenger is a waste of time.   

Fortunately, having a disreputable client is not usually the problem.  More frequently, it is the case that a lobbyist or their client is a stranger and must first acquire credibility and respect in order to be effective.   

As consultants,  we loan some of our respected status to clients while helping them  establish their own positive relationships with government officials.    Clients are not “going in cold” because we have laid a foundation.     

But, you cannot loan what you do not own! 

Obviously, in-house lobbyists or state government relations managers must likewise be respected and given the amazing turnover rate among state officials, all of us are constantly in the process of building new relationships and sustaining old ones.     

If you are responsible for 5-10 or more states, that’s really hard work and often taken completely for granted.    

Regardless of your role in State Government Relations, here are some suggestions for earning R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

Research
Learn about your advocacy targets.  Learn about the culture and the processes of the governing body.   Learn the lingo, the culture, the Do’s and Don’ts and the Case Studies. Never go in cold.   

Expert

Bring something to the table besides a winning smile.  Know your company, business, industry.   Be valuable because you are more than just a hand-shaker.   Always be prepared to explain what other states or cities have done.  It is the number one question lawmakers ask when confronted with a new topic. 

Share

Beyond being an issue expert, being “in the know” is another way to ensure that people return your phone calls and seek your involvement.   Someone who can help government officials understand how an issue is being debated, who are the opponents and proponents and other forces at work is highly valued as long as the “sharing” is substantive and accurate.   This is not about gossip. 

Power

Lobbyists have power  when they can bring sides together, when they direct grassroots resources in an issue campaign, when they have relationships that put their clients “at the table,” when they help keep friends and allies in office and when their knowledge and expertise is sought after.   Being powerful should be one of your goals. 

Executives

Participation in government matters by CEO’s and other high-up executives is essential, especially when dealing with Governors and Mayors.   It should be a goal to encourage this participation.  Also,  when the senior executives get first-hand experience of working with government, they often become more passionate supporters of government relations. 

Coordination

It usually falls to state government relations executives to bring together the disparate parts of an organization (company, association, coalition)  to reach a decision about a policy.   Being able to do that – repeatedly, reliably and in a timely manner – is a great skill and much appreciated and valued by government players.    

Trust

Last letter.   Most important.    You must be trusted and trustworthy.  Make promises and keep them.  If you make mistakes, correct them.   And, do not ever ask a public official to take a position you are not prepared to defend.   

R.E.S.P.E.C.T., that is what it means to me.

By Constance Campanella, President and CEO

Local Governments Choose Bad Over Worse

By Stefani Millie, Vice President

As state governments continue to deal with budget gaps, so too are the nation’s cities, counties and towns.  Local governments’ fiscal concerns mirror what is going on in most states, with employee-related costs for health care coverage and pensions having the largest negative impact on the local government’s ability to fund. 

Similar to the states, local governments are taking varied actions to help deal with these costs.  Many are requiring employees to pay more for their health care or pensions. A number of cities and counties in California included referendums on the November 2010 ballots to cut public pension costs. In some cities, such as Huntington Beach, California, employees voluntarily agreed to pay more into their pensions to avoid cuts. However, for other local governments, funding pensions has become very difficult to accomplish.  The Prichard, Alabama public pension fund ran out of money in 2009 and the city stopped sending checks to retired workers. This is an extreme example, but it shows how some localities must make substantial changes to their pension systems, or risk running out of money.

According to an analysis conducted by Professors Robert Novy-Marx (University of Rochester) and Joshua Rauh (Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management), underfunded pensions for municipal and local government employees total $574 billion, which averages $14,000 per household. For residents of some large cities, the pension situation is worse. For example, New York City’s unfunded pension liabilities total nearly $39,000 per household. Cook County, Illinois Treasurer Maria Pappas announced June 21 that the debt carried by the various governing bodies within the county total $108 billion, with pension benefits totaling over $50 billon of that amount; $25 billion of that is unfunded pension liabilities. The debt load averages $63,525 per Chicago household and nearly $33,000 per suburban household.

Local governments in some states have asked for help from their state legislatures. June 13, the Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns requested legislation to revamp the rules for municipal pensions, in order to financially assist struggling local governments.  In Florida, Governor Rick Scott (R) signed legislation that requires state and local government employees to contribute to their pensions. The Florida League of Cities supported the legislation and participated in the Governor’s bill signing ceremony on June 23.

In these times of tough fiscal conditions, as revenues for local governments are declining and funding from other sources disappearing, are local governments becoming more fiscally conservative?  To deal with the shrinking revenues, many local governments have cut spending and instituted hiring freezes, furloughs and/or layoffs. It is estimated that local government job cuts in 2010 and 2011 will approach 500,000. Some localities are also privatizing services, and are looking for other innovative ways to save resources, such as sharing services with other local governments, or even consolidating government functions and/or local governments. The Rhode Island League of Cities and Towns has also requested legislation to make it easier for communities to enter into agreements to share services.

What about increasing revenue?  It appears that more localities are looking for ways to reduce spending rather than looking for additional revenues.  In an era of falling home prices, property tax-dependent localities are going to find filling deficits with tax increases a very hard sell.

If revenues continue to decline for localities, as predicted, what path will local governments choose? Will we see more requests of state legislators to provide regulatory relief? How long can localities be innovative in finding fiscal savings before they are forced to find ways to increase revenues?