Legislative Advocacy Training

Samantha BeckOutreach Coordinator

Write down why a tuition cut is important to you in one sentence.

Share your sentence with the person sitting next to you.

Who wants to share with the whole group?

Why is a tuition cut so important anyway?

What do you think of when you hear “legislative

advocacy”?

What do you believe motivates your elected official to support

a bill or fund a project

YOU DO!!

!

January-February 2017◦ Turn to page 17 in your toolkit.

We will collect student signatures for our letter to legislators.

Our goal is 5,000 signatures statewide. Purpose: Show broad support for a tuition cut across

the state and in each district. Tools to get signatures: tabling, class raps, clip

boarding.◦ Turn to pages 11-12 in your toolkit.

It is time to start scheduling your meetings for Advocacy Day

Also it is time to recruit students to attend Advocacy Day!

Session Legislative Advocacy Timeline

Turn to pages 8-9◦ After we show broad support for the tuition cut

with the signatures to letters to legislators we will dive deeper and collect student stories. We will be turning these into short videos as well. Best way to collect them:

Have every senator write one. Contact students that you have good conversations with

while collecting signatures.

March-April

Turn to page 13.◦ As session wraps up, we will RAMP UP and call our

legislators to remind them about the importance of a tuition cut.

◦ How to get students to call their legislators: Set up tables on campus and ask students to call

while you are their to help coach them. Use this script and have them call on their cell phone.

Take 10 minutes out of your senate meeting to have everyone call their legislator and if they don’t answer leave a voicemail.

April-May

Partner up with someone you don’t know. Take turns-

◦ 1 person play the person that is tabling◦ 1 person play the student◦ The person that is tabling will ask the student to

sign a letter to their legislator in support of a 1% tuition cut. Use the script on pg. 4 to guide you. You can also use the common responses on pg. 7 to navigate push back. Types of student you can “act out”:

Student in a rush/hurry Student that is skeptical of a tuition cut Student that needs more information

Remember you will have a one pager you can use to give them more details and facts.

Let’s Practice

Your story communicates your values with your legislator and fellow students which motivates them to action.

We will take the next 10 minutes for you to compose your story. Use the challenge, choice, outcome, ask model and refer to pg. 9 for a sample story.

Share Your Story

Collect student signatures on the letter to legislators.

Work with students to develop their story of self and send it into the office.

Recruit students from your campus to attend Advocacy Day!

Next Steps

Questions? Contact me with any questions or

advice during session:◦ sbeck@mscsa.org◦ 651-203-9462

Wrap Up!