Upcoming Seminars – Registration Is Now Open

Capitol Seminars is pleased to announce our upcoming sessions.

Lobbying 101: February 23rd, 2023: 8:30am to 2:30pm ($350.00)

Budget Advocacy: March 3rd, 2023: 10:00am to 12:30pm ($225.00)

Regulatory Agency Advocacy: March 3rd, 2023: 1:00pm – 3:00pm ($195.00)

For more details and registration information, contact: (916) 837-0208 or email: CapitolSeminars@outlook.com

Learn more by visiting us @ http://www.RayLebov.com

Upcoming Seminars And New Website Announcement

Capitol Seminars is pleased to announce our upcoming sessions.

Regulatory Agency Advocacy: September 23rd: 9:30am to 11:00am ($175.00)

Media Strategies: September 23rd: 11:30am to 1:15pm ($175.00)

Budget Advocacy: September 24th: 8:30am to 10:30am ($175.00)

“So You Think You Want To Sponsor A Bill”: September 24th: 11am to 2pm ($225.00)

Lobbying 101: October 1st: 8:30am to 2:30pm ($295.00)

 

For more details and registration information, contact: (916) 837-0208.

We are excited to announce the launch of our long awaited new website! Please visit us @ http://www.RayLebov.com!

Legislative Process/Lobbying 101 Course Outline

Lobbying 101 Course outline:

– registration & disclosure requirements

– Lobbying ethics

– “How a bill becomes a law”/ basics of the legislative process (including the “civics book” version as well as additional insights regarding exceptions illustrating how the process “really works”).

– Legislative rules, exceptions and waivers

– Legislative committees: Their role, how they function and how to work with them
(including the respective roles of committee minority party staff).

– Legislative Counsel Bureau & how to access it

– Glossaries of key legislative terms common references to types and categories of bills

– key legislative publications, documents and
materials: What they contain, which ones are the most important and how to use them.

– How to read a bill

– Dos and don’ts of testifying

– Rules for effective advocacy

– Attributes of a successful lobbyist

– Advice from senior legislative staff

– How to choose the right author for your sponsored bill

– The lobbyist/client relationship and respective roles in Sacramento and the district

Lobbying 101 is not just for new or prospective lobbyists. In fact, attendees fall into the following six categories:

1) Prospective lobbyists

2) New relatively inexperienced lobbyists

3) Veteran lobbyists.

4) Lobbyist Employers who want to learn more about the process so that they can more usefully interact with and give direction to their lobbyists. This group also includes boards, legislative committees and general membership of organizations which employ lobbyists.

5) Personnel who support lobbyists, including administrative, secretarial, communications staff and many others.

6) Interested citizens, including political activists who want to become better informed about how the legislature functions

Mistakes Lobbyists Make

I have often been asked to list common mistakes that lobbyists make. From my observation, here are some of the most frequent:

1) Believe it or not, not reading the bill! How many times have I discussed a piece of legislation with an interested ally or opponent only to find out that they have very little idea of what it says? What a conversation/strategizing stopper!

2) Not applying the requisite degree of attention to making one of the most complex & critical decisions they have to make: deciding which legislator they will ask to author their bill. The significance of this decision cannot be overstated & is equaled by its complexity. The absence of appropriate analysis used by some lobbyists is as shocking as it is costly.

3) Giving in to the “action bias” (aka “do something, anything”) at inopportune moments:

As Thomas Jefferson said in 1826:

“A good cause is often injured more by ill-timed efforts of its friends than by the arguments of its enemies. Persuasion, perseverance, and patience are the best advocates on questions depending on the will of others.”

Or, as Zen Master Phil Jackson said:

“There’s no percentage in trying to push the river or speed up the harvest. The farmer who is so eager to help his crops grow that he slips out at night and tugs on the shoots inevitably ends up going hungry”.

This has also been put: ”Don’t confuse motion with action”. You might also want to leave a “stone unturned” if you don’t know what is under it.

4) A related mistake is not knowing when to stop. For example: I have seen witnesses lose a bill in committee by continuing to speak past the point of effectiveness. When I worked for the Assembly Judiciary Committee, our chairman would sometimes help a witness avoid this error by asking them: “Do you want your bill or do you want to talk?”

5) Not managing client expectations. Unrealistic expectations can create untenable pressure to do the wrong thing or the right thing at the wrong time.

6) Not reaching a solid mutual understanding with the client regarding all aspects of the lobbyist- client relationship (including how & by whom decisions will be made, the respective roles of the client and the advocate, timeliness and frequency of reports and updates, what defines and constitutes success and much more). The existence of that understanding is more important than its specific details.

7) Ignoring minority party members and staff. It may seem like an unwarranted drain on precious time and resources but it is not, even when you are “sure” that you have the requisite votes from majority party members. There are many reasons: common courtesy, you may need their votes & not realize it, you will need them on some future issue, they may raise issues you haven’t thought of, no one likes to be ignored, and more.

8) Not tempering persistence with patience, i.e. defining perseverance as persistence alone. Losing sight of the fact that the best definition of perseverance ( which IS a crucial lobbying component) is that it is persistence PLUS patience in roughly equal quantities.

9) Not telling the truth. Lying may gain you an illusory short-term advantage but will destroy your reputation, credibility & ability to succeed. And, of course, the truth is easier to remember. A small example: I know of someone who regularly used to tell legislators that his client had carried out what the legislator had previously “suggested” to him, regardless of the truth of that statement (in fact, sometimes the opposite had been “suggested”). It worked for a while but eventually these lies (& others) caught up with him and he is no longer on the scene.

10) Not understanding that, in this technological age, anything that is put in documentary form will be known by everyone in the universe within seconds. If you put it in print, assume that you are dispensing it instantaneously universally. The price paid for indiscreet violation of this rule can be enormous.

11) Not sufficiently researching a legislator or staff member’s background & interests before communicating with them. Minimize surprises: Do your homework!

12) They don’t under-promise and over-deliver. It can tempting to promise the moon (and more), especially in the client acquisition phase – don’t do it! (See mistake #5)

13) Speaking for someone else without specific, clear, definitive, precise authorization. This sin can get you into more trouble than almost anything else.

14) Losing a potential major victory by stubborn pursuit of the unattainable aka “letting the perfect be the enemy of the good.”

15) Taking setbacks personally.

16) Sending the wrong “messenger” to communicate the client’s point of view. The message is important, of course, but a “rogue” representative who either can’t or won’t observe appropriate protocol is generally toxic to your goal.

17) “Ready, fire, aim”: Impetuousness is your enemy – and analysis & strategy are your friends.

18) Overreacting when frustrated. Take a deep breath instead. Then think it through. Then act.

19) Not understanding that, because many laws are not self-implementing, a legislative win or loss may be just the battle, not the war. Remember that in the case of non-self-executing statutes, regulatory agencies play a huge implementation role and that the lobbyist’s job isn’t over when legislation is enacted.

Legislative Terminology – Using it Correctly

Every Legislative body has its own official terminology as well as its own lingo. Many terms are the same across most if not all jurisdictions but some terms are unique to a particular state and others mean different things in different venues.

To be a successful lobbyist, one MUST become familiar with all the key terms as they are used in his or her particular jurisdiction. Why is this true? If you are going to succeed you must know what people mean when they use specific words in specific ways. Likewise, it is important that you are able to communicate so that others understand precisely what you mean. Also, if you are not using terms as they understood in your jurisdiction, you are, in effect, placing a sign on your back that says: ” I am a rookie, please take advantage of me.”

Let’s look at a single example. In Congress & in most state legislatures, legislators who introduce bills are called sponsors. In California, a sponsor is the entity who requested a legislator to introduce a bill while that legislator is referred to as the “author”. You can imagine the confusion that results when someone unfamiliar with that practice either asks who the sponsor is when they mean the author or responds to such a question.

Wherever you are lobbying, it is critical to locate a high quality glossary & to become familiar with its definitions. That doesn’t mean you have to memorize every term & definition but you do have to develop that working familiarity.

My experience shows that most glossaries are not worth the paper they are printed on.  Finding a good glossary is critical. Almost every jurisdiction that I’ve researched has at least one that is the gold standard for that venue. Find it & use it!

Can Nonprofits Lobby?

I am frequently asked whether, and under what conditions, a nonprofit is permitted to lobby. Of course, I am not going to use this forum to give legal advice so what follows is not to be construed as such. Before doing any lobbying pursuant to this discussion be sure that you consult with an attorney qualified to advise you.

Nonprofit Lobbying Yes You Can!

Nonprofit organizations can and should lobby! It’s not difficult, it’s not expensive and it is is a proper role for nonprofits. You might ask, why lobby? Lobbying helps people. Everything that goes into a lobbying campaign – the research, the strategic planning, the phone calls and visits – will help fulfill your goal whether it be finding affordable housing, developing more after school programs, or some other cause that helps people.

What is lobbying?
Lobbying is defined by federal tax law as any attempt to influence specific legislation. Legislation means a bill that has been introduced, or a draft bill that may be introduced in any legislative body such as a city council, state legislature or Congress.

The 501(h) Election
Prior to 1976, there was enormous ambiguity over the amount of lobbying that nonprofits could do. The IRS rules required that tax-exempt nonprofits could lose their tax-exempt status if they did more than an “insubstantial” amount of lobbying. This “insubstantial-lobbying test” was never specifically defined in IRS rules, and individual IRS agents had no guidance in what constituted “too much lobbying.”

The 1976 Lobby Law, however, established clear guidelines for lobbying expenditures. The Lobby Law allows nonprofits to choose to be covered by a clearly defined set of lobbying rules. This law clarifies that 501(c)(3) nonprofits that elect to fall under these rules can spend up to a defined percentage of their budget for lobbying without threatening their tax-exempt status. In 1990, the IRS published final rules on implementing the Lobby Law that make it quite clear that nonprofits should elect to be covered by the lobbying-expenditure test and not fall under the vague insubstantial lobbying test.
What are some of the benefits of taking the 501(h) election versus not electing?

No limit on lobbying activities that do not require expenditures, such as non-reimbursed activities conducted by bonafide volunteers.
Clear definitions of various kinds of lobbying communications, enabling electing charities to control whether they are lobbying or not.
Higher lobbying dollar limits and fewer items which count toward the exhaustion of those limits.
Less likely to lose exemption because the IRS may only revoke exempt status from electing organizations that exceed their lobbying limits by at least 50 percent averaged over a four-year period.
No personal penalty for individual managers of an electing charity that exceeds its lobbying expenditure limits.
In order to be covered by the rules, your organization must file IRS Form 5768 with the IRS. This simple one-page form can be filed at any time. The IRS has provided clear documentation to nonprofit organization that filing this form is favored by the IRS and will not trigger an audit. You can download the form from the IRS website (this is a PDF document).

What does not count as lobbying?
There are five activity categories that are excluded from the term “influencing legislation.” They are:

Self-defense: communication on any legislation that would affect an organization’s existence, powers and duties, tax-exempt status, or deductible contributions.
Technical advice: providing technical advice to a governmental body in response to a written communication.
Non-partisan analysis or research: studying community problems and their potential solutions is considered non-partisan if it is “an independent and objective exposition of a particular subject matter…(which) may advocate a particular position or viewpoint so long as their is a sufficiently full and fair exposition of pertinent facts to enable the public or an individual to form an independent opinion or conclusion.”
Examinations and discussions of broad social, economic and similar problems: communication with the organization’s own members with respect to legislation which is of direct interest to them, so long as the discussion does not address the merits of a specific legislative proposal and make no call for action.
Regulatory and administrative issues: communication with governmental officials or employees on non-legislative (i.e. administrative) matters such as rule-making.
Lobbying Limits
If your organization has not taken advantage of the 501(h) election then “no substantial part” of your organization’s activities can be devoted to lobbying. Clearly, this is a very vague guideline. Therefore, in 1976, specific expenditure guidelines were established, known as the “section 501(h) expenditure test.” However, in order to be protected by these guidelines, your organization must take formal steps to fall under these guidelines.

The total lobbying expenditure limits under the 501(h) election are:
– 20% of the first $500,000 of exempt purpose expenditures, plus
– 15% of the next $500,000 of exempt purpose expenditures, plus
– 10% of the next $500,000 of exempt purpose expenditures, plus
– 5% of the remaining exempt purpose expenditures up to a total cap of $1 million. (Exempt purpose expenditures are all payments you make in a year except investment management, unrelated businesses, and certain fundraising costs.)

Direct vs. Grassroots Lobbying
Under the 501(h) election, the IRS distinguishes between direct and grassroots lobbying.

Direct lobbying is when you state your position on specific legislation to legislators or other government employees who participate in the formulation of legislation, or urge your members to do so. In order to count as direct lobbying it must refer to specific legislation and express a view on it.

Grassroots lobbying is when you state your position on specific legislation to the general public AND ask the general public to contact legislators or other government employees who participate in the formulation of legislation. If you do not include a call to action in your communication to the general public, it is not lobbying. Remember, urging your members to lobby counts as direct lobbying not grassroots lobbying.

The distinction between direct and grassroots lobbying is important under the 501(h) election because the 1976 Lobby Law specifies different expenditure limits for grassroots and direct lobbying activity. An organization may spend only one-fourth as much on grassroots lobbying, as on direct lobbying. For example, if an organization’s annual permissible lobbying expenditures were $100,000, it could spend only $25,000 on grassroots lobbying. But it could spend the remaining $75,000 on direct lobbying.

Reporting Lobbying Expenditures
All 501(c)(3) organizations (except churches, association of churches, and integrated auxiliaries) must report lobbying expenditures to the IRS. For those nonprofits that do not elect to fall under the 1976 Lobby Law (for information on the 501(h) election, the IRS requires detailed descriptions of a wide range of activities related to lobbying. For organizations that take the 501(h) election, the only requirement is to report how much was spent on lobbying and how much of the total amount for the year was spent on grassroots lobbying