PCPA encourages members to participate in district lobby month during January 2007. As part of district lobby month, members are asked to contact legislators in their respective district offices and make appointments to visit them during January. If you have already made an appointment, please contact Melissa DiSanto Simmons, director of legislative affairs, (melissa@paproviders.org or 717-364-3280) and apprise her of which legislators you plan to visit.
Scheduling
District Legislative Visits
Legislative Alerts to be released the week of January 3, 2007 will include
suggested talking points. The recommended prime days for scheduling district
legislative visits are during the weeks of January 8 – 19, 2007. Please
register your appointment with the PCPA office as soon as possible. This enables
the association to track all of the efforts being undertaken by members. PCPA
is aware that some members make arrangements to visit legislators during the
months of February and March as it better suits schedules. The association
would like to know abut those plans as well.
If members are unsure whom their legislators are, visit Internet Resources on the Legislative Affairs page of the PCPA web site or go directly to www.legis.state.pa.us (accessing the box in the upper-right corner). Through these links members can search for legislators by entering individual addresses or zip codes.
Goals
of Lobbying in the District
The goal of district lobby meetings is to establish or cultivate a relationship
with the legislator and his/her district staff; paying particular attention
to freshman legislators. The focus of the meeting should be on the member
– i.e. number of individuals employed by your organization, number of
consumers/clients served, programs/services offered, actual costs of doing
business (including but not limited to programs/services, salaries, health
care benefits, insurances, utilities, travel/transportation, trainings, etc.),
and recruitment and retention efforts.
PCPA is also coordinating Legislative Site Visit Month in March 2007. Members are encouraged to set dates for legislative site visits at their agencies (hosting legislators and/or staff in your facilities) when meeting with legislators in January/February 2007.
