Staying Current
34 January/February 2015 Landscape and Irrigation www.landscapeirrigation.com
The 114th United States Congress, and many state legislatures,
began a new session Jan. 3, 2015.
The 2014 U.S. House and Senate elections bring more than 70
newly elected members to Washington, D.C. A few races are still
undecided as of this writing, but, so far, the makeup of this group
is as follows:
13 females, 60 males
12 of the new members are in the Senate
10 are classified as minorities
11 are 39 years of age or younger, with the youngest being 30
years old; 19 are between 40 and 49 years old and 39 are 50 years
or older
54 of them have previously held office
John Boehner, Speaker of the United States House of
Representatives and leader of the House majority — likely to be
247 seats after a few undecided races are settled — will preside over
the largest majority any Republican speaker has had since 1929.
Do you have a new Senator? And if you do, do you know
who he or she is? A complete listing can be found at https://www.
opensecrets.org/politicians/newmems.php.
Take the time to find out whom these people are and if you or
someone you know might be acquainted with them. These early
days are the best time to reach out to them to begin to forge a
relationship. All the legislation from the previous 113th Congress
will have to be reintroduced in the House and Senate because
there are no carry-over bills. So, once again, we will have to find
co-sponsors for the bills we favor, and we will have to educate
the new members about the issues. There will be new chairs
of all committees in the Senate, and some of the names of the
committees could change. All the newly elected members will have
to be assigned to a committee(s).
The Congressional Management Foundation (CMF) just
released a new report, "Face-to-Face with Congress: Before, During,
and After Meetings with Legislators," which can be found at www.
congressfoundation.org/index.php. This report is the first research-
based guidance for citizens on how best to interact with members of
Congress. The CMF works directly with members of Congress and
staff to enhance their operations and interactions with constituents.
CMF works directly with citizen groups to educate them on how
Congress works, giving constituents a stronger voice in policy
outcomes. The report's key findings include the following:
93 percent of House Schedulers surveyed indicated requests
for meetings with lawmakers should be made two to four weeks in
advance.
71 percent of participating House Chiefs of Staff expressed
"no preference" for meeting location (Washington, D.C. versus the
home district).
94 percent of the House Chiefs of Staff felt a "1–2 page issue
summary" left behind after a meeting is somewhat or very helpful,
while only 18 percent said the same for a document that is "5 pages
or greater in length."
Before you reach out to the new members, if you haven't already
done so, familiarize yourself with the issues by visiting the Legislative
Action Center on the PLANET website, LandcareNetwork.org. Also,
keep in mind the key findings listed above from the CMF report,
and don't forget to include all the newly elected members of your
state legislature in your outreach. Many times, that is where we can
elicit real change within a short amount of time.
Tom Delaney, is director of government affairs at the Professional
Landcare Network (PLANET). He can be reached via e-mail at
TomDelaney@landcarenetwork.org.
■ By tom Delaney
New Legislators and You: How Best
to Interact with Members of Congress
ILLUSTRATION ABOve ©ISTOckphOTO.cOm/SmARTBOy10
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