Legislative visits are a powerful way to communicate your position directly to decision-makers. It’s an opportunity to provide new information and help lawmakers to make the connection between who you are and what you need.

The principle purposes of a legislative visit, whether at your offices or at the lawmaker’s district office, are three-fold:

1. To educate legislators and their staffs about your achievements and challenges
2. To establish or strengthen communication channels between legislative offices, groups and HASC
3. To establish or enhance a personal relationship among the legislator, his/her staff and your group

Use the following guidelines for coordinating legislative visits.

Keep Us Informed

Let HASC staff know of your intentions to host a legislative visit or request a meeting at the legislator’s office. Depending on the occasion, HASC staff will help target the issues for discussion, provide information about the legislator before you meet and advise on who should attend. Key HASC representative(s) can attend the meeting, establishing the link among the group, the legislator and HASC.

Clarify your Goals

Decide your goals for the legislative visit. If you prefer to discuss pressing issues, it is better to ask for a meeting at the legislator’s office and invite representatives from other local groups. If you want a relaxed, social and informative meeting, a visit at your offices would be more appropriate.

Coordinate the Visit

• Coordinate dates and logistics by letter or phone, and secure acceptance. Note: Fridays are a convenient day for legislators to attend meetings in their district because the legislature is normally not in session on that day. Legislative recesses also provide extended opportunities.
• Arrange for a photographer when planning a visit in your offices. Inform HASC of scheduling arrangements.
• Develop an agenda for the meeting in conjunction with HASC.
• Coordinate visits with your public affairs manager to maximize opportunities for improving community relations through this event.

Prepare Information Packets

For a legislative visit, send the following information packets 10 days prior to the visit:

• For legislators and press—A packet containing information about your group, health care issues, the California health care field, current public policy issues affecting health care in California, specific information about the groups in the legislator’s district and information about HASC and CHA.
• For group representatives—A packet containing information about the visiting legislator, the legislative process, the meeting agenda and copies of the same information provided to the legislator.
• For the public relations manager—A packet containing public relations information for a media follow-up of the legislative visit.

A Sample Visit in Your Offices

• 9 a.m.—Private breakfast in a relaxed atmosphere with board members, medical director, administrator and selected physicians. Or, invite counterparts from other local groups serving the legislator’s district.
• 10 a.m.—Tour of group’s facilities, if appropriate. Suggested tour highlights include advanced technological equipment, with an emphasis on the medical and cost-saving benefits; humanistic services such as community outreach; and any service or aspect unique to your group.
• Optional—Luncheon speech by legislator to 50 or more personnel.

Follow-up Guidelines

• Send a thank you note to your legislator and restate your willingness to provide more health care information.
• Send a draft article and accompanying photograph for the lawmaker’s newsletter.
• Publish an article along with a photograph in your group’s newsletter, if you have one. Send copies to the legislator.
• Inform HASC staff of your follow-up communications.

Special Steps for a District Office Visit

• Decide who will make up your delegation. Your groups should be limited to four or five other health care leaders from the legislator’s district. Involve HASC in planning the meeting.
• Allow for an opportunity to discuss and format a meeting agenda with the members of the delegation before you approach the legislator.
• Limit your legislative discussion to two or three specific issues. Do not overwhelm the official with a long list of grievances. For concrete problems, it is always advisable to suggest solutions, as legislators prefer future actions over continued discourse.
• Be direct and concise in stating your opinions. Like you, legislators have time constraints. You should therefore communicate exactly what the legislator can do to help you.
• State your willingness to provide the legislator and his/her staff with any additional information on the issues you discussed, and present yourself and the members of your delegation as resources for technical and statistical data relating to health care.
• When planning your meeting agenda, keep in mind that office visits should not exceed an half-hour in length.

Follow-up Guidelines

• Send a thank you note to your legislator and restate your willingness to provide more health care information.
• Inform HASC staff of any pertinent issues discussed.

Legislative Staff Visits

Staff aides are responsible for scheduling, analyzing specific legislation and issues, and handling constituent problems. Because they have considerable influence with legislators, consider staff the best alternative to actually meeting or talking with legislators, who in many instances are trying to be in several places at once. Even though your goal is to develop and maintain a good working relationship directly with the legislators in your district, it is important to maintain mutual familiarity with certain legislative staff, such as health aides, field deputies and administrative assistants.

To establish or maintain rapport, meet with local legislative staff on an annual basis and invite them to important events, such as the opening of a satellite office in the district.

For more information about legislative visits, please contact us.