Speaking directly with elected members of the Missouri Legislature is an important part of the legislative advocacy process. This can happen over the phone or by email, which is easiest and most frequently how lawmakers can be reached, or through an in-person meeting. Whatever the medium of your interaction with lawmakers, there are some best practices and general tips to follow to make the strongest case for your concerns.

• • When applicable, refer to the bill number of specific legislation
  • If communicating about a broader policy position rather than a particular bill, be sure to include a specific ask or request for them to take action/ways to support
  • Ask questions
  • State where you stand and why—make a compelling argument without being argumentative
  • It’s good to probe a legislator’s stance on legislation if you have an audience
  • Information that is tailored to a legislator’s district is always more powerful than information that is generic

In making a pitch to a legislator or their staff, aim for…

• • Using facts and figures to illustrate your point—but never make data the sole basis of your argument (most people do not respond to numbers the same way they respond to stories, narrative, and personalization, especially politicians who communicate to the public in broad themes, taglines, emotional content, and slogans);
  • Sharing emotion and personal stories—try to humanize your point; personal stories help prevent a position or argument from becoming too abstract or forgettable;
  • Presenting support from key authorities or influencers, such as past electeds, heads of corporations and other nonprofits, and even religious leaders;
  • Demonstrating the positive impact that the legislation or policy you are advocating for would have specifically on this legislator’s district;
  • Explaining, if possible, how your position could/would/should align with the legislator’s politics, the political dynamics on the ground in their district, or how your position could possibly benefit the legislator politically.

It can help to explain to a lawmaker why you think their support or opposition could benefit them politically. What is meant by “benefit politically” is not some crude sense of who is up or who is down: rather, think of it as how this person (yes, person! A human being who has desires, goals, and motivations all of their own that are relevant to the interaction) can explain their support for your legislation or otherwise use their action to make a favorable impression on key voters in their district. 

You can’t win them all, but you can certainly try. Redefine “success”: a sophisticated, strategic, and relationship-based approach to speaking with lawmakers about a bill or policy may not guarantee the result an advocate wants, but it will do a lot of work in building support, gaining allies, or neutralizing potential opposition to your goals. Discouraging opposition is as important as encouraging support for getting a bill across the finish line, or at least getting it into the race to begin with.

Staff are a key gateway to any legislator. At every level of government, staff serve as the gatekeepers for elected officials; the analysts and advisors; and usually the first point of contact between advocates, lobbyists, and constituents seeking help.

Working with legislative staff is especially important for participating in or organizing Legislative Lobby Days. Know the protocol, best practices, and procedures for engaging with members and legislative staff; and prepare for what is likely a new experience for many citizen-advocates.

During lobbying visits to Jefferson City (or Capitol Hill, if your legislative advocacy happens to take you to the federal level), be prepared and make a favorable impression of yourself as a leader and advocate for your cause.

• • Attire in the Legislature is most often professional/business. Staff and Members will likely be dressed somewhat formally.   
  • Come prepared with concise, shareable handouts; “one pagers” are fact sheets that do not exceed one printed out, double-sided page containing neatly-organized information for staff and lawmakers to keep handy.
    • • Try to vary the type of information included on your one-pager: blend significant data points, a summary of one or two personal stories, visual aids like graphs or charts, and, if possible, include some color to make the factsheet visually appealing. If you are meeting to discuss a specific bill, include the bill number on the factsheet.
      • Confirm your meeting day and time within two days of your scheduled visit
  • Arrive 5 minutes before your meeting, but probably not too much earlier.
    • • Most legislative days, lawmakers and staff are constantly juggling their legislative duties and responsibilities with constituent work, meetings, phone calls, and events. Their office entrance is most likely full of people waiting for their meetings, or leaving a meeting that just concluded.
      • To the extent you can show lawmakers and staff that you understand what they deal with on a daily basis, you will come that much closer to forming durable, friendly relationships with them that could be useful later.

Treat staff like they could be your most important allies, because they can make your experience with the Legislature infinitely easier or much more difficult.

In each new session, legislators are allowed to pre-file bills before legislative business officially begins.

When a new bill is introduced, it is given an initial oral reading on the floor in a process called being “first read.” It is usually then read a second time (“second read”) and referred to the proper committee(s) of jurisdiction where it will be handled by that committee’s Chair.

In committees

All legislation introduced in a given session must receive a public hearing in a committee of jurisdiction before advancing to either the House or Senate floor. However, the committee chairperson is in charge of deciding which bills receive a hearing and when. Anyone from the public—including lobbyists and advocates—are given time to testify for or against the merits of a bill to lawmakers during a committee hearing.

Hearings must be publicly posted a minimum of 24 hours before the hearing is held, which is often what happens, providing little time for members of the public to make arrangements to testify. Additionally, it is at the chair’s discretion to decide who gets to speak on a bill in committee, and for how long; often, this discretion is used to shut out unfavorable testimony on a bill and to close the public input period however it suits the chair or the majority party.

How to track weekly hearings during Session:

The House offers a live video feed of floor proceedings, as well as links to view open committee hearings. The best way to track what happens to legislation as it’s being considered in committees is to tune in, if possible. Otherwise, you can check the daily journal once it’s approved and published online, or you can look for recent votes on the chambers’ websites. Eventually, all bill actions will be updated on that bill’s specific webpage and votes, amendments offered/approved, and any summaries or reports associated with the legislation will be available there.

The Senate offers live video as well as live audio of floor proceedings, and likewise also has bill summary pages that serve as portals of information relating to those individual bills.

Resources for tracking legislation:

• • Hearings schedule for the MO Senate 
  • Hearings schedule for the MO House of Representatives 
  • MO Scout, a paid political and legislative news service that sends weekly rundowns of insider rumors, updates on political campaigns and the raising and spending of money by both campaigns and outside groups, and important information on legislation, both proposed and conceptual.
  • Tipsheets and daily or weekly rundowns of Capitol happenings—most major state media outlets have something like this, of varying quality and utility. See: The Missouri Times coverage of campaigns and MO Leg; St. Louis Post Dispatch’s Political Fix email newsletter; and the Columbia Tribune political analysis.
  • Follow and engage with reporters assigned to cover the MO Leg on social media
    • • Twitter is a great platform for the public and concerned advocates to stay informed about the many twists and turns that can occur during Session.

As advocates, it is your job to show up, to provide the information and the input necessary to support legislation and policy that would improve the environment and serve the mission of environmental advocacy organizations. But this is not easy, and there are many political and logistical roadblocks that one may encounter when attempting to do something as seemingly straightforward as offer a valuable, informed opinion on a particular piece of legislation. Don’t be surprised if you travel to Jefferson City to speak for or against a bill only to learn later that the bill was pulled from consideration, the hearing cut prematurely short, or that you will not be allowed to speak before committee members. This happens in today’s polarized political environment.

Tracking legislation is a helpful tool for monitoring any possible substantive changes to bills that might happen in committee or as amendments on the floor. However, advocates should aspire to build relationships with staff, lobbyists, and Members (from both Parties) so that they can track lawmakers’ sentiment about policies favorable to your mission. This will allow you and other advocates to avoid potential problems before it’s too late, if possible, and to build consensus and support for legislation before the crucial committee hearing and amendment process. Aim to track legislation behind the scenes, and on the front end of the legislative process, as much as possible.

Out of Committees (reported): “Out of the fire and into the frying pan”

• • What happens to a bill after a committee hearing?
    • Following a hearing in which the bill sponsor is allowed to speak on the legislation, and Members both in favor and against have been heard, the committee may vote to:
      • • 1. Report the bill to the House with the recommendation that it “do pass.”
        • 2. Report the bill to the House with the recommendation that it “do pass” with committee amendments.
        • 3. Report the bill to the House with the recommendation that a committee substitute for the bill “do pass.”
        • 4. Report the bill with the recommendation that it “do not pass.” (Such a bill will not be taken up by the House unless 82 members vote to take it up.)
        • 5. Report the bill to the House without recommendation. [source: https://house.mo.gov/billtracking/info/howbill.htm]

On the Floor

• • Where does a bill reported out of committee go?
    • • Once a bill is reported favorably out of committee, the bill or committee substitute is placed on the “perfection calendar.” The perfection of a bill is the process by which amendments from committees and from floor debate are added or rejected, and a near-final “perfected” version of the amended bill is ordered to be printed and will be ready for final consideration later.
      • Any Member can offer an amendment, but the presiding Speaker must recognize that Member before debate is moved to be cut off.
  • How does the reported bill see action on the floor for passage by the House?
    • • After perfection and printing, a bill goes on the calendar for Third Reading.
      • This process is substantively similar to what happens in the Senate, except rules for debate are different and each Senator has more power to amend and discuss a bill being considered for perfection and for final passage. 

Once considered for debate on the House floor, a bill sponsor can call for a third and final reading of the bill (“third read”) that, if permitted, will lead to a vote on final passage. 

Calling the “Previous Question,” or PQing a bill

Calling the Previous Question (PQ) on a bill is a move to end debate and the offering of amendments and move to final passage. 

Zealous advocacy requires perseverance, patience, and some political savvy. The key to remember is that in addition to understanding the legislative and political process, successful advocacy is about relationships.

Heather Navarro, past Executive Director of MCE and St. Louis City alderwoman: shares,

“No change, whether it’s legislative or otherwise, happens in a vacuum. Every person that you interact with, including elected officials, legislative staff, lobbyists, allies, opponents, building security and maintenance staff, are also somebody’s neighbor, constituent, family member, colleague, and on and on. Fostering respect for those relationships, especially when you disagree, will contribute to healthier, more productive, and increasingly civil debate. This approach will advance your cause because one, you are a trusted and respected source. Two, your cause will be made stronger by listening authentically to others and incorporating their stories and questions into your own thinking and advocacy.”

Access and participation are values inherent in our democratic process, but securing such goods in real life is harder than it seems. For better or worse, lawmaking is injected with politics (and not in the “dirty word” sense that most people use it); savvy advocates understand this, and seek to use that fact to better navigate the process to best champion their ideas and causes.