[Ohio-Talk] Effective Strategies for Interacting with Policy-Makers

[Jordy Stringer]

Greetings all, I hope this message finds everyone well. As a number of our
Federation family are set to take the hill in less than one week I thought
the below excerpt from a book I'm reading would be timely.

Yes, Richard, I read…

It talks about the hereing process and how important it is to the
legislative process.

Additionally, As the time is nearing for us to educate our senate members
about the necessity for accessible prescription labeling, and the necessity
for protections for parents with disabilities you might take particular
note of the paragraph related to testimony.

The author and title are listed below.

Effective Strategies for Interacting with Policy-Makers

By Robert Silverstein, J.D.

>From Chapter 5



An official hearing is a critical component of the legislative process. At
the most basic level, hearings provide an official and permanent record of
the

views of key players on a given subject matter (where no legislation is
currently pending), pending bills or implementation of existing legislation
(oversight).

These key players include appointed officials of the Executive branch,
elected officials of the Legislative branch, academics and interest groups.
Since

testimony is included in Congress’ permanent record, those invited to
testify in hearings must prepare carefully.

A hearing can serve several purposes. One purpose is to gain the attention
of elected officials and staff, particularly those on or working for the
committee

holding the hearing. As a result of the hearing, a Member or staffer who
previously had not focused on an issue might decide to get more involved.
Similarly,

a Member might decide to co-sponsor a bill, agree to speak out on the
issue, direct staff to follow the legislation more closely or to get more
input from

constituents.

Another purpose of a hearing is to gain the attention of key officials in
the Executive branch. Whether or not a representative of the Executive
Agency

or Department is asked to testify, the Executive Agency or Department will
usually have representatives at the hearing to take extensive notes. Often,

a witness demanding legislative action can get the Executive branch to take
an administrative action that may achieve the same objective. By pressing an

issue, witnesses may force the Executive branch to take action.

A hearing can also serve as a tool to gain the support and enthusiasm of
the grassroots. A hearing may also serve the purpose of getting the issue
on the

radar screen of the media, which may in turn increase an issue’s visibility
for the general public and indirectly influence the elected officials and
staff.



Still another purpose of a hearing is to ascertain whether a bill is
“ready” to move to the next stage in the legislative process—review by the
committee

or subcommittee in a “mark- up” session. A “mark-up” session is where
elected officials of the committee or subcommittee have the opportunity to
amend

the bill before it goes to the House or Senate floor. Based on the hearing,
elected officials and their staffs as well as elected officials of the
Executive

branch and interest groups can determine, among other things, whether the
content of a pending bill needs major revisions or simply fine-tuning , the
political

“lay of the land” in terms of the degree of partisanship or support, the
magnitude of support/ opposition by interest groups (identifies major
camps) and

areas where consensus may be possible.

Testimony from hearings is also used by committee staff as background for
writing a committee report, which clarifies and explains the intent of
language

included in a bill. Testimony may also be quoted in floor statements by
elected officials and for inclusion in memos distributed to other staff.



-- 

Jordy D. Stringer, Executive Director

Southeastern Ohio Center for Independent Living, 418 South Broad Street
Lancaster, OH 43130

E-mail: jssocil at gmail.com

Phone: (740) 689-1494 EXT (11)


"Pursue some path, however narrow and crooked, in which you can walk with
love and reverence."

 -Henry David Thoreau