1 Marj Plumb, Dr. PH Plumbline Coaching and Consulting, Inc. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Marj Plumb, Dr. PH Plumbline Coaching and Consulting, Inc. marj@marjplumb.com

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§How legislative policy happens §What you need to study §How to report on findings

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Signed into law October 11, 2019!

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Levels of Government

Federal State County City

Branches of Government

Executive Judicial Legislative

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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE

California Assembly (AB) 80 members 55 Democrats, 25 Republicans 80 districts, 2 year terms* California Senate (SB) 40 members 25 Democrats and 14 Republicans 40 districts, 4 year terms* California Governor Democrat 4 year terms, 2 times * In June 2012 voters approved Prop 28 which allows legislators to serve a maximum

• f 12 years in either the Senate or Assembly.

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B u t w h a t d

• e

s t h i s r e a l l y m e a n ?

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§ Bill idea to legislative counsel by end of January

§ Need research, idea, an author

§ Bill introduced by end of February (wait 30 days)

§ Need to stay on top of the legislature’s lawyers

§ Bill heard in one or two policy committees in March and April

§ Hold the same morning or afternoon for 5-6 weeks until your bill is scheduled § Meet with Committee staff who will analyze the bill § Create Fact Sheet and other materials, get letters of support § Talk one on one with legislators § Deal with amendments § Attend hearing and wait, speak at hearing

§ Bill heard by fiscal committee by end of May

§ How much does fixing the problem cost? § Create/edit Fact Sheet and other materials, get letters of support § Deal with amendments

§ House (s) final actions in early June

§ Deal with amendments § Meet one on one with legislators

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§ Bill heard in one or two policy committees in June and July

§ Hold the same morning or afternoon for 5-6 weeks until your bill is scheduled § Meet with Committee staff who will analyze the bill § Edit Fact Sheet and other materials, get letters of support § Talk one on one with legislators § Deal with amendments § Attend hearing and wait, speak at hearing

§ Legislative Recess: Mid July to Mid August

§ Good time to take a vacation

§ Bill heard by fiscal committee by end of August

§ How much does fixing the problem cost? § Edit Fact Sheet and other materials, get letters of support § Deal with amendments

§ House (s) final actions in early September

§ Deal with amendments § Meet one on one with legislators

§ Governors desk mid September to mid October

§ Meet with Governor’s staff § Deal with amendments

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§ Two-year legislative cycle

§ First year begins in an odd number year

§ Bills not passed in the first year become “two-year bills” and

must past the first house by the end of January in the second year.

§ Bills can be introduced each January/February of each year.

§ Bills are given an AB (Assembly Bill) or an SB (Senate Bill) § And a sequential number

§ In 2019 up to 1799 Assembly Bills and 777 Senate bills (not including

constitutional amendments and resolutions)

§ About 22 bills per Assemblymember and 20 per Senator

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§ Chief of Staff – runs entire office. § Legislative Director – manages entire legislative portfolio, plus

each bill their member will vote on.

§ Legislative Aide(s) - usually has bills within an issue area or

several issue areas (i.e., health, criminal justice reform, etc.)

§ Communications Manager – manages the member’s

communications, speeches, floor/committee comments

§ Scheduler – well, this person handles the member’s schedule § Fellows (Senate or Assembly) – manages a smaller portfolio of

bills

§ District Staff – mostly handle in-district questions or needs.

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1.

Double Referred

2.

Office of Legislative Counsel

3.

Across the Desk

4.

Spot Bill

5.

AB

6.

Enrolled

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Chaptered

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Gut and Amend

• A. Introduce a Bill
• B. Assembly Bill
• C. Referred to two policy

committees

• D. To the Governor’s Desk

E.

Replace Entire Content

• f Bill

F.

An Empty Bill

• G. Signed Into Law
• H. Writes the Bill Language

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1.

Double Referred = C

2.

Office of Legislative Counsel = H

3.

Across the Desk = A

4.

Spot Bill = F

5.

AB = B

6.

Enrolled = D

7.

Chaptered = G

8.

Gut and Amend = E

• A. Introduce a Bill
• B. Assembly Bill
• C. Referred to two policy

committees

• D. To the Governor’s Desk

E.

Replace Entire Content

• f Bill

F.

An Empty Bill

• G. Signed Into Law
• H. Writes the Bill Language

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Meet with Committee staff who will analyze the bill. Get your data in the Bill Analyses!

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§ “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics”

popularized by Mark Twain

§ “Our press secretary, Sean Spicer, gave alternative facts to that

[i.e., Donald Trump's inaugural crowd size], but the point remains that...” Kellyanne Conway

§ “We found no cases of lawmakers’ decisions on abortion being

shifted by evidence.” Woodruff and Roberts

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Enact Policy Political Will, Politics Stream Problem Stream Policy Options Open Policy Window

Policy Entrepreneur

Change Change

Kingdon’s Multiple Streams Model adapted from John W. Kingdon in Felix HC. Progress in Community Health Partnerships. 2007.

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Howlett, McConnell and Perl

§What do you know about the problem? §What do policy makers need to know about the

problem?

§What reports or statistics are available about

this issue?

§What do impacted people think about the

problem and can they tell their story?

§Who agrees/disagrees that this is a problem

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n What are ALLLLLLL the options to fix the

problem?

n Which option do you think is best and why? n What is the existing law on this issue? n Are there “baby steps” that can be taken? n Are there potential negatives to your solution? n What decisions will be made in enacting the

the policy option?

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n What is the history of prior policy/advocacy

efforts on this issue?

n What is the likely position of key legislators? n What is the likely position of affected state

agencies?

n What is the likely position of interest and

advocacy groups?

n What are the fiscal implications? n Why might others oppose this policy option?

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Typical Research Paper

§Introduction §Methods §Results §Discussion

Policy Research Paper

§Summary §Methods §Findings

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§ Focus on what’s important and don’t get buried in background

• r extraneous information.

§ Always be accurate. There are ways to summarize specific

findings for all audiences that account for details and nuance, even if all the details are not presented. More detail is not necessarily better, particularly for lay audiences.

§ When preparing to share your work, think about how you’d

explain your research to non-experts, and go from there. This helps you focus on core themes and take-away messages.

§ Stick to common, everyday words and define technical terms. § Use active voice. Avoid passive verbs. § Keep to short sentences as much as possible.

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Plain Language at NIH

SB 24: Community and Policy Informed Research

Assessing Barriers

We estimate 1,038 abortions each month for students at the 33 UC/CSU campuses; up to 519 could seek medication abortions. High rates of poverty among students. 65% of campuses are more than 2 hours round-trip (both visits) by public transportation to the nearest provider.

Evaluating Capacity

It would be feasible to provide MedAb at all Student Health Services. Staffing, facility, and equipment required to provide MedAb are minimal. Additional investment would be needed to support staff training, equipment, 24-hour help line, security upgrade.

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§ Be flexible and available or build an interchangeable team who

can cover/step in

§ Being called “Doctor” matters

§ Inform your government affairs people

§ Be willing to stand up to them

§ Study what needs to be studied

§ Ask policy makers what their questions are § Meet with Committee staff to get your data into bill analyses § Be community-informed/community-engaged

§ Don’t bury the lead

§ State your case clearly, without a lot of caveats

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