February 2014 - Parks & Recreation - 30

ADVOCACY

planning your meetings, allow for an
extra ten minutes on top of the time
needed between meetings in case the
meeting begins late or takes longer
than expected.
The NRPA Public Policy Team will
be hosting two pre-event webinars -
free for registrants - that will highlight this year's legislative platform as
well as travel and meeting tips, and
they will allow you to ask questions
as you prepare for your trip. Dates
for these webinars are February 26
and March 12, and all registrants will
receive emailed details for how to attend. Additional training will occur at
Legislative Forum prior to your day
on Capitol Hill.
Decide which issues you want to discuss with your senators and representatives, and gather statistics and facts you
can use to discuss the issues prior to
your arrival in D.C. To maximize your
impact, highlight only one or two issues,
and find ways to tie them to state and local examples of projects that have been
or could be funded through the federal
program. A famous political maxim is,
" All politics is local! " So, make sure you
" connect the dots " to how the policy
and spending decisions being made on
Capitol Hill impact your work locally.
Fact sheets for each of the platform
issues will be posted on the NRPA
website prior to the Legislative Forum
for you to review. Once you're in D.C.,
you'll receive a spiral-bound program
guide that will have a copy of each fact
sheet you can use as a reference for
talking points while in D.C.
Finally, do a little homework on
your senators and representatives prior
to coming to D.C. Learn about their
background, hobbies, previous service
at the state or local level, and their position on issues impacting parks and recreation. A great place to start is online

Parks & Recreation

at www.house.gov, www.senate.gov
and www.congress.gov.
The Day of Your Visit
Be on time, if not a little early. Allow
for enough time to get through security,
keeping in mind that lines can be long.
To expedite security clearance, do not
wear excessive jewelry or carry unnecessary items in your pockets. Assume that
anything that might be an issue when
you go through airport security would
also be a problem when attempting to
enter the Capitol office complex.
Prior to the meeting, decide who in
your group will open the discussion.
House members primarily care about
their individual districts. Try to have a
member of your group who either lives
or works in the representative's district
open the discussion and make the constituency connection.
During the Visit
Be confident in your ability to promote
the importance of parks and recreation.
You know firsthand the importance of
parks and recreation to your community, and you are simply telling your story.
It is a story that your elected officials really do want to hear.
Silence your cellphone during your
meetings. Do not read or send electronic messages during meetings. Give them
your undivided attention.
Most Hill visits are brief (15-20 minutes), and it is very likely you will meet
with the staff person who handles park
and recreation issues for the member of
Congress. Be sure to exchange business
cards with each staff person at the end
of the meeting.
Have everyone in your group briefly introduce themselves. Give a short
overview of the number of people
employed by your agency and the
number of citizens who annually use

| F E B R UA R Y 2 0 1 4 | W W W. N R PA . O R G

your facilities and programs. Members of Congress and staff translate
this into votes and jobs.
Never discuss fundraisers or political contributions - nothing that is
considered " political activity. "
Be concise, but be specific and make
the " ask " - share NRPA's position on
the issues you are discussing and ask the
member of Congress or the staffer if
they are willing to support this position
and bring this agenda item to fruition.
Offer how you can help to do that.
If the member of Congress or staffer
you meet with holds an opinion different from your position, do not be confrontational or argumentative. Try to
gain an understanding of why he or she
holds that position and be prepared to
offer alternatives on ways they can be
helpful. NRPA Public Policy webinars and training will prepare you to
respond to some of the most common
reasons members of Congress may express opposition to policy positions.
When You Get Home
Send a thank-you note by email to everyone you met with and remind them
of your ask and why they should support your position.
Follow up on any requests made at
the meeting. Your day on the Hill was
about making an ask, establishing
yourself as a resource and taking the
first step to building a relationship with
congressional staff, so make sure you
also stay in touch with the contacts you
made going forward.
As always, if you have any questions
relating to Legislative Forum or NRPA
Public Policy, please contact David
Tyahla (dtyahla@nrpa.org) or Sage
Learn (slearn@nrpa.org).
David Tyahla is NRPA's Senior Government
Affairs Manager (dtyahla@nrpa.org).

February 2014 - Parks & Recreation

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