Meeting Management 

Meeting Effectiveness
Guidelines for Letters to the Editor 
Lobbying Guidelines 
Telling Your Story 
Running a Phone Tree 

Civic Engagement

How to Contact Your Legislator in Olympia  
The Legislative Calendar  
How to Stay Informed About the Session  
Lobby Days Schedule 

How to Influence Olympia

Influencing the Rule-Making Process in Washington State

Getting Started

Making a Difference
(or Becoming an Activist For Your Cause)
By Stuart Bechman - ©1997

People often come across issues of importance to them, which they want to take a stand on one side or the other. This is encouraged in our democratic society - it is often how progress is made in our society. But people then often ask the question, 'How Can I Help?' It's asked cautiously, because people have to balance their support of an issue with all of the other aspects of their lives as well as with their own skills and resources.

Many don't even ask the prior question because they are afraid by doing so, they'll commit themselves to something far beyond what they're willing or able to do. When you're around passionate people who are struggling to make a difference and you express your tacit support, you can often feel their strong desire to pull you into their cause to the greatest extent possible.

It is a sad fact that the more impact you wish to make, the more effort it will take. This is the tradeoff that most would-be supporters face in deciding to support a cause. But the good news is that no effort is wasted or pointless - many, many causes have been significantly furthered by just a few people spending a few minutes a day letting others know of their support for these causes. The single largest factor in a cause being realized is the number of people who are willing to stand up and make their voice known, over and beyond any other activity or effort.

This list is an answer to those who ask 'How Can I Help?', ranked from the least visible impact & effort to the most visible impact & effort. Again, even though some of these efforts seem quite small, every one of these efforts can make a contribution and provide some impact for your cause. Talk with those who agree with your viewpoint and offer a sounding-board for each other, reinforcing and strengthening your viewpoints.

Talk to others who may not be aware of your viewpoint. Let them know of your viewpoint and of others who share it, what they're doing. Talk to others who you know disagree with your viewpoint. Engage in persuasive (but not confrontational) conversation to test your and their views against the other. See how well your viewpoint stands against theirs.

Read/Listen to the media on a regular basis to learn about recent developments regarding the causes you support. Do research to discover organizations which support your viewpoint or cause, using the public library, an Internet Browser, or following up on authors and media sources who have written articles which support your viewpoint.
Educate yourself by learning what these organizations know and have done about your cause. Provide a one-time contribution to any of these organizations which advocate your viewpoint. Prepare a database / card file of all organizations you discover that support your cause, including contact person, address and phone numbers, and any other related information such as clippings of their advocacy efforts. Use such acquired information to strengthen your viewpoint.

Prepare a database / card file of all organizations you discover that oppose your cause, including contact person, address and phone numbers, and any other related information such as clippings of their advocacy efforts. Use such acquired information to test your viewpoint.
Read/Listen to the media on a regular basis to study its presentation of the causes you support. Write a response to any articles or shows which seem to disagree with your viewpoint. Set a periodic personal goal to reach, say, two letters/month. Listen to talk shows which touch on issues of concern to you. Participate on a call-in basis to share your viewpoint. Set a periodic personal goal to reach, say, two call-in shows/month.

Regularly support organizations which advocate your viewpoint. Become a member if you can afford it; or contribute money, time, or other resources you may have to offer. Pay attention to local political efforts that appear opposed to your viewpoint. Make your opposing viewpoint known in these efforts to any/all government officials privy to these efforts through a letter, a phone call, or personal appearance. Purchase 'Gift' memberships to the organizations that you support for local libraries and/or government officials so that they are kept apprised of the efforts and information being promulgated by the organizations you support. Participate regularly in local discussion groups that support your viewpoint. Contribute your ideas and opinions to these groups as often as you can.

Support political candidates who strongly identify with your viewpoint, through money, time, or other resources. Write an article advocating your cause and submit it to a publication which supports that cause. Write an article advocating your cause and submit it to a publication which is neutral to that cause. Make a public commitment to regularly contribute in some way to an organization which supports your cause.

Propose a project which you believe will further your cause and present it to others who may support your project. Take an advisory role in one of the organizations that supports your cause. Recruit another to join and support one of the organizations that supports your cause. Participate in a project sponsored by another. Offer to lead your (or someone else's) project to bring it to fruition.

Find a friendly public forum which is interested in and supportive of your viewpoint. Speak on behalf of your cause in this forum. Find a neutral public forum which will allow you to voice your viewpoint. Speak on behalf of your cause in this forum. Lobby/campaign for money and/or resources for an organization that supports your viewpoint. Take a leadership role in one of the organizations that supports your cause.

Using the JW! Set Up To Fail Play 

Click Here (and then on Slideshow on far right part of screen) to see the SET UP TO FAIL slideshow OR Click Here to view Set Up To Fail as a webmovie

Our work involves organizing to change Washington State laws, Washington State Department of Corrections procedures and public opinion about crime and safety.

To make the criminal justice system in Washington State more fair and just, we must educate and mobilize communities in all corners of the state, including rural Washington. The dominant culture views our work as not only controversial but also threatening. We realize that to be effective our message must be carried by a very wide base of supporters. Thus, we approach this difficult challenge with methods that stimulate both the intellect and the heart.

Our project is to increase the impact and outcome of our work by using of drama. Our Set Up To Fail play is the centerpiece of our Justice Works! statewide outreach and public education work. We are working to increase public exposure to our dramatization by providing support to individuals and organizations across so they can the put on the play IN THEIR AREA!

Audience participation allows citizens, if only for a few minutes, to experience the reality of living in a cage.

To educate and motivate citizens to take action, Set Up To Fail combines important factual information about the criminal justice system with the powerful emotional expressions of incarceration and release from prison.

As more people from different cities in the state understand why and how our criminal justice system sets people up to fail, our PEOPLE POWER GROWS AND GROWS!

History teaches us that they only way to make social justice changes, we, the people must organize!

So, below you will find the information you need to join our work in your corner of the state!

Using the JW! Set Up To Fail Play 

instructions here...

Using the JW! Set Up To Fail Play 

instructions here...

Managing Campaigns

Use the information in this section to create effective campaigns.

Managing Campaigns

ISSUE CAMPAIGN PROCESS

STEPS TO SUCCEED IN MAKING SYSTEM CHANGES
(i.e how to organize “people power”)
April 1, 2004


1. Before beginning an issue campaign, make sure there are effective JW! organizational structures to provide methods for:
------Identifying the experts on the issue
------Providing broad based education on the details of the issue
------Providing the structure to mobilize people around the issue.

2. Do Power Analysis using the process taught by Western Prison Project and create campaign an issue plan which includes a specific educational plan and mobilization plan.

3. Partner with experts (incarcerated people, family of incarcerated people and “community issue experts”)

4. Execute the plan to educate JW! members/supporters and large numbers of community people about the issue.
-------JW! television
-------I->O and O->I Newsletters
-------Flyers
-------Bulletin Board Network postings
-------Presentations at JW! meetings
-------Presentations at outreach events

5. Execute the plan to mobilize (i.e. send emails, letter, make calls, go to rallies and/or events) JW! members/supporters and large numbers of community people.

6. Evaluate campaign issue plan during and after the execution of the plan.

Managing Campaigns

Power Analysis Training

I. Welcome and Introductions - 15

II. What is power (ability & access to influence decisions) and how do people get it? – Group brainstorm exercise - 10
--------money
--------position
--------people
--------relationships
--------other

III. Power analysis - 10

A. Introduction -
We all have a sense of where the power to influence and make decisions is, so let’s take it a step further and try to look at it more closely. We are going to use a “Power Map” to help us visualize where power is and how it’s used. We all know how important road maps are to us in finding our way somewhere. Our “Power Map” can be a tool to guide us in our efforts to make changes in communities.

B. Purpose and Basic Assumptions of the Power Analysis

Review the Purpose handout.

IV. Power Map Exercise - 45

A. Introduce the map, highlighting how the range of power goes from the bottom to the top and how agreement with our agenda goes from left to right. With steps 3-6 we will be writing responses on cards and placing them on the power map in accordance with how much power each group has and their relationship to our agenda.

Step 1: List the competing agendas of the forces who are causing or perpetuating the problems, and your agenda. (i.e. the conditions you want to bring about.)

Our agenda might include: We want safe, affordable, stable housing that is in good repair. We want to be actively involved in the decisions that impact our quality of life. To empower ourselves.

Their agenda might include: To make a profit. To make all the decisions.

Step 2: Define the major economic political, and/or social conditions that impact our work. We aren’t organizing in a vacuum. It is important to keep in mind the environment in which we are working.

Some responses might include: more poverty, privatization, cuts in social programs and assistance, expensive health care, lower paying jobs, cuts in housing programs, racism and other oppressions, money in politics, corporate power increasing.

Write on storm clouds and place at top of power map.

Step 3: Sketch the major centers of decision-making power over the conditions

Responses might include:

What might we need to do to move them on our issue?

Step 4: Sketch the major organized opposition.

Responses might include:

Step 5: Sketch the organized groups and allies that are working towards our agenda.

Responses might include:


Step 6: Sketch groups of people or communities most affected by the conditions and specific issues.

Responses might include: prisoners, family members, children, poor people, people with disabilities, women, people of color, senior citizens.

Think about what we would need to do to move each segment of the population.

V. Break - 10
VI. Small Group exercise – create your own power map - 30
VII. Regroup & Debrief - 30

A. What are some of your observations or impressions from looking at the Power Map?
--------Small groups of people hold a lot of power
--------Organized opposition seems to have more influence on the decision making institutions
--------The people impacted negatively have the least power

B. What do you see in regards to our power as tenants? How can we use our power?

C. One of the purposes of the Power Analysis was to permanently alter the power relationships in favor of the people suffering from the problems and conditions. How do we permanently alter the power relationships?

Managing Campaigns

No New Prisons Agenda (WA State Level)
1. Introductions
2. Meeting goals
--------Good understanding of factors influencing prison expansion
--------Preliminary campaign plan based on above understanding
--------Preliminary team outreach
3. Brief overview of research / statistics on WA State prison system
--------Current prison system stats
--------Prison expansion project currently in progress
--------Future planned prison expansion
4. Do power analysis as INPUT to campaign planning
--------What is our agenda? What is their agenda?
--------Define major economic, political and/or social conditions that impact
--------Identify / assess decision makers over prison expansion
--------Identify / assess major organized opposition
--------Identify / assess organized groups and allies in support
--------Identify / assess groups of people or communities most affected
5. Develop a preliminary campaign plan to stop prison expansion
--------What actions support decision makers who are allies?
--------What actions block decision makers who are foes?
--------What can be done to counter work of organized opposition?
--------What can be done to support the work of allies?
--------What can be done to assure that those most affected are involved?
--------What types of public education are needed?
--------What areas of the state need the most attention?
--------What materials are needed to support our agenda? (i.e.: research, position papers, poster, flyers, media work, banners, etc...)
--------Who is interested in participating in this campaign?
--------Who else could we invite?
6. Set date for next meeting for follow up and results (once a month)
7. Comments
8. Adjourn

Managing Campaigns

Click here for information on how to build your base

Organizer Skills

Use this section to increase effectiveness.

Organizer Skills

Why do we meet?

- To move forward on our goals
------Planning
------Decision making

- To involve members and supporters in our work
------Work together
------Give updates on progress
------Recruit participation

What makes meetings effective?
- Well attended
- Well planned
- Well communicated goals
--------State the meeting goals after introductions
--------Decide this or that
--------Plan this or that
--------Goals are NOT to discuss or to educate or entertain
- Efficient use of time
- Available background materials
- Involve the membership

--------At introductions everyone explains their reason for involvement
- Fun / People feel more “connected” after the meeting
- Everyone knows their role

--------Facilitator
----------Understands the goals of the meeting
----------Reviews the goals of the meeting
----------Keeps the group focused on the agenda
----------Can focus on the meeting dynamics
----------Doesn’t talk about topics as much as participants
----------Makes sure decisions are made democratically
----------Ends the meeting with a summary of decisions
----------Avoid detailed decision making

--------Timekeeper
----------Helps the facilitator keep track of time

--------Note taker
----------Take notes for the minutes

--------Presenter
----------Presents program / project information

--------Greeter
----------Gives new people packet of info about JW!
----------Makes people feel welcome

--------Participants
----------Contributes ideas and suggestions
----------Commitments to actions
----------Clear about deadlines

What is the difference between a meeting and an event?
--------Events
----------Include a wider range of people
----------Goal can be to discuss or educate or entertain

What disrupts meetings?
-------Discussing things that don’t move us to our goals
-------People who talk more than needed
-------Sometimes children
-------Late arrivals

What can we do to reduce disruptions?
-------Provide childcare
-------Provide transportation

What can we do to make our meetings more effective?
-------Have a system to make meeting reminder calls
-------Use of clear agenda
-------Maintain a “Let’s talk about that later” list
-------Start and end on time (or within 5-10 minutes)

Organizer Skills

General Guidelines

1. Shorter letters tend to be accepted more than longer letters. (200 words or less)

2. Full name, address and telephone numbers are needed so the newspaper can verify the identity of the writer. Only name and city are printed. You will probably be called to verify that the letter came from you.

3. Use your own words. Make your letter personal by giving examples or telling a story. Don’t name other people in your letter. Keep it factual and positive as possible.

4. Don’t get discouraged if your letter isn’t used. Space limitations mean only a few letters are selected. Continue regular writing.

5. Do not send attachments with emails.

6. Send no more than one letter per letter submitter per month.

7. Focus on one subject per letter.

8. Please, let the Justice Works! letters to the editor coordinator when and where your letter was submitted and if / when your letter was printed. To make this easy for you, you can BCC the letters to the editor coordinator when you submit your letter.

Organizer Skills

LOBBYING
WHAT WE CAN DO AND WHAT WE CAN’T DO
January 4, 2007

Justice Works! has an IRS 501c3 status which allows our donors to claim their donations as deductions. And, it also allows us to qualify for grants.

BUT, we are bound to follow specific rules about how we do lobbying. Specifically, we are NOT allowed to do DIRECT LOBBYING but we ARE allowed to do INDIRECT (GRASSROOTS) LOBBYING.

DIRECT LOBBYING is:

• “Any attempt to influence any legislation through communication with any member or employee or a legislative body, or with any government official or employee who may participate in the formulation of the legislation.”

That means we cannot spend money to:

o Organize a delegation of people to lobby Congress on specific legislation
o Send messages to people who represent a specific position and ask them to contact their representatives

INDIRECT (GRASSROOTS) LOBBYING is:

• “Any attempt to influence any legislation through an attempt to affect the opinions of the general public or any segment thereof.”

That means we can spend money to:

------Create and distribute television, radio ads or mailings to educate citizens about the issues related to a specific bill so long as:
--------These communications are to the GENERAL PUBLIC and NOT members of our organization or other special interest groups.
--------When dealing with an INITIATIVE (like the 3 Strikes law), the general public is the body enacting the legislation, so encouraging the general public to vote a certain way on an initiative becomes direct lobbying.
------Provide nonpartisan analysis, studies or research which allows the public to form an independent decision. This information cannot include a “call to action.”
------Provide technical advice or assistance to a government body, committee or subdivision in response to a written request from such body. The communication must be made available to every member of the body. Opinions are acceptable as long as specifically requested by the body or related to materials requested by the body.
------Provide an examination of broad social issues regarding a general subject which may also be the subject of specific legislation. The communication cannot address the merits of a specific legislative proposal. It cannot involve a direct call to action.


For more information on lobbying CLICK HERE

Organizer Skills

By: Noemie Maxwell
I’m a contributing editor on a political blog called Washblog and I’ve started a series on criminal justice issues in Washington State. Through Lea Zengage I’ve received a number of personal stories and issue reports/briefs from people who are in prison, mostly those serving under the 3-strikes law.

So far, every piece I’ve received has been well-written. I don’t want to try to fix what isn’t broken by giving you advice you don’t need! But maybe it would be helpful if I tried to describe, specifically, what elements of the work I’ve received make it well-written. Then I can share a few additional things I try to keep in mind when I’m writing for Washblog.

I want to emphasize here that I’m not trying to give my opinion on what works for all kinds of writing – just this kind! Telling your story for literary reasons or as part of a journal, etc. is very different.

Quick Capture
It’s important to capture attention at the very beginning of a story or the reader will move on quickly. All the pieces that I’ve received have this quality– mostly because they are clearly written and relevant, as I describe below. But also I haven’t seen any distractions or sidetracking.

Clarity
All the pieces I’ve received have what I think of as clarity. I think this starts with the “Five Ws” : Who, What, When, Where, and Why. It’s almost like giving the reader a map so he won’t get lost. Who is the writer? What events, places and years are we talking about? How do these facts relate to the writer’s main point?. Why should the reader care ?

Also key to clarity are well-organized sentences with one thought flowing from the next, a central theme or ideas that everything else fits around – and spelling and grammar that don’t leave anyone stranded in confusion. This all sounds basic. But many people who have an important story to tell – and some of the best ‘storytellers’ need some extra thought – or input from others – to get the kind of clarity that shines through in the writing format.

Relevance
Your story is, by its nature, relevant. It’s relevant for you, obviously, but also for society. In your case, the question of whether your writing comes across as relevant to the reader is one of style and design. Are you communicating the relevance that is already there?

There’s a phrase used a lot now in politics: “framing your issue”. The idea is to “frame” what you say around the deeper values that most people share – even if their opinions on many issues differ. So, if we want people to hear us and not just tune out, we should avoid too much side-tracking into policy details -- or emphasis on why we’re right and other people are wrong. Instead, we should try to relate what we say to the deep values that most people share -- like justice and right relationships between people and wise use of limited public resources (taxes, etc.).

I think that all the pieces I’ve read do a great job of connecting your stories with these values and staying on that ground. They seemed to me, actually, to be graciously written – coming from a place of great pain, but never abandoning willingness to relate to the readers around those shared values.

Authority
There’s no writing tip that can give someone authority they don’t already have. You all have authority on your topic. But there are ways to do better or worse – in communicating the authority you do have. I think that comes mostly from clarity and relevance. It also comes from being clear about what is opinion and what is fact. It also comes from giving the reader whatever information you can so they know they can verify the facts you present.

Using your information for publication
The goal on Washblog is to have political impact for the kinds of readers who come to us for information. All the elements I’ve described above are in play when it comes to trying to reach that goal -- but in slightly different ways.

We live in what is sometimes called an “attention economy”. There is so much information flooding in to everyone that getting attention for a story or issue is very difficult. It’s also just about the most valuable thing there is. The right kind of attention makes all the difference in what laws are on the books and how they are carried out.

So, it’s worthwhile to give some effort and strategy to think about how to get that attention. For that reason, I’m not sure how I’ll use the writing that has been sent to me. Probably, I’ll put them all online in an archive kind of form – and then reference and quote them in stories that are posted in an ongoing way.

Here are some thoughts I’ve had on getting more readership for these stories on Washblog. I think I have noticed that people tend to pay more attention to stories that are:

• Related to specific policy issues, campaigns, candidates, and elected officials.

• Newsworthy -- related to current events.

• Locally relevant, including details like place names, historical events, local people, and state and local organizations.

• Person-specific. People relate to other people much more than to statistics and abstract policy descriptions. The more photos and interviews and ‘public’ details about your personal life (things personal to you but not too private to share)–the more will be read.

• Credible. Before posting your stories, for example, I’ll want to look at the public record to verify the facts in them. Not because I distrust anyone, but because it provides security to the reader that the story can be trusted.

• Scoops. Any information of interest to political readers – that can’t be found elsewhere and that relates to current news is especially valuable.

• Of demonstrated interest. Stories posted on blogs can have comments added to them by anyone who reads them. Not all stories get comments – and most get just a few. The more comments a story has, the more people click in to read it. So do encourage your friends and family members to sign on to stories that relate to you. Posting can be done anonymously. And orientation/training can be provided.

• Relevant other issues. Criminal justice issues, for example, are very connected to concerns people have about voter enfranchisement and the power of special interests to distort society and elections.

Organizer Skills

Activate local activists easily by phone.

A phone tree is a prearranged, pyramid-shaped system for activating a group of people by telephone. Using the phone tree system can spread a brief message quickly and efficiently to a large number of people.

USES
§ Quickly mobilize members and/or supporters in emergency situations (for example, when a vote on key legislature is pending and a barrage of calls, faxes, e-mails, and letters are needed).
§ Notify members of meetings, hearings, actions, and last-minute changes.
§ Increase turnout by providing personal invitations to reinforce (e-) mailed notices.
§ Save printing and postage costs involved with communicating brief notices by mail. (Phone trees are not effective tools for disseminating a high volume of information).

RESOURCES NEEDED
§ People - A coordinator and a network of reliable people form the skeleton of the phone tree.
§ Time - The coordinator will spend time organizing the tree. (This process should be done prior to serious activation of the tree). Once it’s set up, the tree can do dozens or even hundreds of hours of work with only five to 50 minutes of involvement by each member, depending on the frequency and number of calls each member is assigned.
§ Money - No money is needed aside from long-distance charges, where applicable. Use home telephones and cell phones at no additional cost.

ACTION CHECKLIST
1) Make a list with current phone numbers of all the persons you want the tree to reach.
2) From that list, recruit a smaller group of people who will be responsible for calling and activating other members. This small group is referred to as the Key Group.
a) Keep the Key Group as small as possible, since each group may be responsible for reaching people who in turn are responsible for reaching out, and so on. It is critically important that the members of the Key Group are reliable!
b) Impress upon ALL participants the importance of completing all their assigned calls.

3) Divide the people on your list among the members of the Key Group.
a) Consider assigning responsibilities geographically to reduce any phone charge.
b) Try to limit calls to three to eight per participant so the phone tree won’t become too burdensome.

4) Mark a chart of Key Group members and their assignments and distribute it to the Key Group. Be sure to include work, cell, office, and other numbers to locate members.

5) Ask key people to notify you when they are going out of town or will otherwise be unavailable. Have alternate Key Group folks that can fill in if someone is unavailable.

6) Hold message drills occasionally to test your phone tree for effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.




OPERATING THE TREE
1. As coordinator, you will start the tree. Write out a brief script complete with the specific action each member needs to accomplish (calling their members of Congress, writing a letter to the editor, coming to the next planning meeting, etc.)

2. Call the members of the Key Group using the script. Make sure that Key Group members understand what they need to do and the time frame in which they should do it.

3. Spot-check the trees effectiveness by calling a few people down on the list to be sure they have received an accurate and complete message. Also, you can prearrange with folks down the list to contact you once they have received the message.

4. Train the folks in your phone tree to keep trying each person on their list until they make contact. If a member of the phone tree cannot be reached have the caller notify you as the coordinator so you can fill in or delegate the responsibility to another member.

5. Ask the membership chair to keep you informed of changes in branch membership so you can keep your communications network up-to-date.

KEY POINTS
§ Have an organization chart for your phone tree.
§ Be sure that your Key Group members are reliable.
§ Have multiple ways of reaching members (home, work, and cell numbers are key).

Civic Engagement

A healthy democracy is one where its citizen know what is going, know how to get involved and CHOOSE to TAKE ACTION.

The information below will help citizens have a voice.

Civic Engagement

CALL:
-- you can call your legislators’ offices directly, or
-- there is a TOLL-FREE HOTLINE:
1-800-562-6000. TTY: 1-800-635-9993.

During the Legislative Session, operators are standing by:
weekdays from 8:00 am - 8:00 pm, and
Saturdays from 9:00 am - 1:00 pm.

HOTLINE Operators will send your message to:
* one of your legislators, * all three of your legislators,
* the Governor and Lieutenant Governor – or all of these, as you request.

They can tell you who your legislators are, or you can look them up by clicking here.

PLUS – they have language translation services. It helps if the person placing the call says: “Spanish please” (or another language) and knows enough English to understand “Please Wait.” The wait can be from 1-5 minutes while the operator either a) gets a Spanish or Russian speaker to the phone, or b) contacts an Interpreter Service and connects a 3-way call with the HOTLINE Operator, the caller, and the Interpreter.

WRITE:
-- Representative ___________________ or,
Senator _____________________
P.O. Box 40600 (House), P.O. Box 404[leg district] (Senate).
Olympia, WA 98504-0600 (House)
Olympia, WA 98504-04[leg district] (Senate)

EMAIL:
-- write your legislator’s lastname.firstname@leg.wa.gov. (e.g., Truman.harry@leg.wa.gov.)

VISIT:
-- in Olympia, any day during the session. Citizens are welcome. Also look for TOWN HALL MEETINGS back in the District by mid-Session.

BONUS: A wonderful (free) resource is the League of Women Voters. Find them in your local phone directory, and ask for their “TRY” pamphlets listing phone/mail/email information for your local, state, and federal elected officials.

Civic Engagement

It helps to understand the Legislative Calendar.

The 2007 Legislative Session in Olympia runs from January 8 through April 23, 2007.
Every day – including Saturdays and Sundays – is counted in setting the 105-day Session. The legislature will be in Session on all holidays (Martin Luther King, Jr. Day – 1/15, and Presidents’ Day – 2/19), and may also be in session on weekends near the end.

The dates below control the action on bills: these “cut-off dates” are pretty firm. Bills that fail to get the requisite action before action is “cut-off” most likely will die. The official calendar will not be available until January, but it is possible to anticipate LIKELY key dates. With the caveat that these dates are subject to change a bit,


…here are several critical points in the 2007 Session:

à 1/08 – 2007 Session begins.
à 2/28 – last day for bills to be considered in the Policy Committees of the House/Senate - where they originate (a.k.a. "house of origin")
à 3/6 – last day for bills to be considered in one of the Fiscal Committees of the House or Senate where they originate
à 3/14 – last day for bills to be considered on the floor in their “house of origin”
à 3/30 – last day for bills to be considered in the Policy Committees of the "opposite house"
à 4/03 – last day for bills to be considered in the Fiscal Committees of the "opposite house"
à 4/13 – last day for bills to be considered on the floor of the opposite house
à 4/23 – 2007 Session adjourns for the year.

Civic Engagement

A)     READ POLICY WATCH. Click here to view UW Civic Engagement Policy Watch
Each week’s “issue” is posted by Monday during the Session.

B) WATCH TVW. TVW is a cable network that goes into Committee Hearings and other events around the Capitol during the Legislative Session. In addition to being available by cable, it is also available via the internet.

C). CONTACT AN ADVOCACY GROUP FOR YOUR ISSUE.

There is an advocacy group for almost every issue. One list is at the SSWWEB. They:
Þ Monitor their issues closely,
Þ Distribute weekly (or “as needed”) Legislative Alerts,
Þ Recommend positions on bills and budget items, and
Þ Suggest sample messages, and many also organize Lobby Days.

Civic Engagement

Click here for the Lobby Day Schedule