Finding an Author for Your Sponsored Legislation
https://soundcloud.com/user-259535370/finding-an-author-for-your-sponsored-bill
Today we’re continuing our In Practice addenda to Ray LeBov’s Rules for Effective Lobbying series. Today’s podcast drops in again on a conversation between veteran lobbyists Ray LeBov and Chris Micheli talking about how to find an author for your sponsored bill. This is one of the most important tasks when sponsoring a bill, and LeBov argues, one of the most understated.
Ray argues that any lobbyist should use some sort of list in order to ensure they are analyzing their decision thoroughly. After years in practice, he found a series of 15 questions to ask himself before deciding on a member, some of which are:
- “What is the potential author’s relationship with members of all four caucuses and the Governor in the administration?”
- “How will the issue play in potential author’s district?”, and
- “Who’s going to staff that bill in the particular legislator’s office?”
None of these questions on their own are a silver bullet, but each one is worth weighing in context with all of the others on the list. Therefore, before deciding on an author, a lobbyist should weigh each one of the questions carefully and avoid common mistakes that could cause trouble later in the process for the bill – and your client.
Not only do Ray and Chris give veteran insight into important questions to ask, they also go over why they think each one is important to ask. Some questions may seem obvious but have nuanced purposes such as unwritten protocol in the Legislature or laying the foundation for long-term relationships with potential future legislative powerhouses.
To hear more questions you should ask yourself to help find an author for your sponsored bill, listen to the podcast and hear both Ray and Chris explain why each question should be asked and how it will benefit your search.