CAPITOL INSIDER
The Games Legislators Play LO UI E B ROW N IN T HE S ACR AME N TO OFFICE O F K HAN, S OAR ES AN D CON WAY, L L P
Don’t downplay your ability to impact proposed legislation. Remember, all politics is local. Brown
Say what you will about California politics and the dysfunction that usually characterizes our State Legislature, but the process we live with offers various opportunities to limit the legislative ambitions of overreaching lawmakers. As you read this column the State Legislature will be in the midst of culling proposals from a staggering list of nearly 3,000 bills. Not unlike years past, legislators have introduced a bevy of bills ranging from the silly and inconsequential to the draconian. If passed in its entirety, this laundry list of bills would cripple our industry. Given the high stakes, our job as part of CGA’s government relations team is largely a game of defense. Through the development of strategic alliances and a reliance on established relationships with key policymakers we work to support worthy bills, fix moderately bad bills and kill those with little redeeming value. Unfortunately, most bills we encounter fall into the last two categories. While most things change with time, the content of legislation we face is far from new. Indeed, most proposals are direct reincarnations of bills from yesteryear that met a timely demise. These retreads and their progeny are often shopped as 14 | CAL I FOR N I A G R OC E R
novel approaches to persistent problems but we ensure they are exposed during the committee process as tired and flawed fixes. If that were enough to eliminate all bad bills our job would be easy. The reality is that most lawmakers are hesitant to question a colleague’s legislation for fear that legislative karma will turn on them in due course. Even fewer legislators want to risk their legislative agenda by opposing a fellow colleague’s pet proposal. Supporting a member of your own caucus is often more important than drilling down into the real impact of a policy proposal.
And, let’s not forget the role in-district meetings play. Those one-on-one conversations in a legislator’s district may be the most effective. As such, when CGA sends out periodic alerts identifying key bills moving through the legislative process you need to act. Fortunately, we have not had much need to issue a Call to Action this session, but the year is far from over. So, to the extent you have information on how bills would negatively impact your business please relay that data to us in Sacramento. Every little piece of information and input is critical to our success in protecting your bottom line. ■
So, what can get us past this sort of hurdle? Well, often the answer lies with you. The quickest way to convince a legislator that a proposal equates to bad public policy is by pointing out local opposition. Substantial numbers of letters, phone calls and emails from constituents detailing the shortsightedness or high cost of pending legislation can often trump party loyalty and institutional courtesies. Social media also plays a significant role in today’s lobbying activities. The power of a hashtag or a direct communication from constituents via Facebook cannot be overestimated.
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