ATTORNEY ON LAW
Offering Transparency during a Pandemic Council on Governmental Affairs opens its program to member scrutiny and input.
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Lance Plunkett, J.D., LL.M.
f the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has taught us anything, it is that the old ways of doing things need to be adapted to changing circumstances, especially crisis circumstances. NYSDA has always had a largely successful governmental affairs program, but it is primarily an internal affairs operation. By its nature, it was not particularly transparent, partly because nobody would ever want to broadcast legislative strategy to opponents (discussion of legislative strategy is one of the few legitimate reasons for a board of directors/trustees to enter into an executive session) and partly because grassroots efforts were largely devoted to the non-lobbying, fundraising activities of NYSDA’s EDPAC (Empire Dental Political Action Committee), a separate entity from NYSDA. It always bears repeating that EDPAC does not lobby and that it is prohibited from lobbying. While this may seem counterintuitive to the “money talks” aspect of government, the only role EDPAC has is to make contributions to individual candidates for political office (and their various party committee structures). The goal of that money is to help with the election campaigns of candidates, not to lobby on specific issues. Naturally, it is always hoped that these candidates have the best interests of the dental profession in their minds when considering legislation, but there is no quid pro quo. And to think of it as a quid pro quo is actually to be thinking of the criminal act of bribery, so that has to be avoided at any cost. It is the Council on Governmental Affairs that oversees the lobbying program at NYSDA.
Members are probably surprised to hear that since this council is, admittedly, largely invisible to members. In fact, until a few years ago, when NYSDA began its yearly legislative Lobby Day, this council rarely ever met collectively with legislators or legislative staff. And there was little direct communication on the NYSDA website from Governmental Affairs. All of its monitoring functions for the Association’s lobbying program occurred behind the scenes. To a large extent, this was driven by the fact that the Council on Governmental Affairs, unlike other NYSDA councils, is not a policymaking or even policy advising body. Rather, it is an implementing agency for policies developed by other councils and by the NYSDA Board of Trustees and House of Delegates. The Council on Governmental Affairs does prioritize efforts based on political realities and reactions from legislators and legislative staff. It focuses on doing what is doable and tries to allocate limited resources to achieve positive results. But it does not alter, create or eliminate NYSDA policies. Now, though, the Council on Governmental Affairs is going to change its approach with members. The Advocacy page on the NYSDA website is going to be radically changed so that members can see and have access to all the bills that NYSDA works on and be able to submit comments and sign up to provide grassroots support. Also, NYSDA is looking to develop links with the American Dental Association (ADA) federal advocacy program, so that members can have easy access to federal lobbying activi-
The New York State Dental Journal NOVEMBER 2020 5 ●
