DISTRICT MEETING GUIDE
December 2003 - Prepared by America Bikes

Several times a year, Congress goes into recess and members return to their home states and districts.  This is an excellent opportunity for constituents to meet with their elected officials. Your goals:

• As always, our core mission is to talk about bicycles and TEA-3 reauthorization.
• Remind the legislator about the America Bikes agenda for reauthorization of TEA-21.

This meeting is very important. Most legislators are responsive to their constituents…after all, you elect them to office. The federal transportation bill is huge, yet this legislation is not in the public eye. While legislators are lobbied heavily by interests in Washington…the state DOTs, the road builders, the asphalt and concrete industries, the auto manufacturers, etc. legislators hear very little from voters about this bill. So the voice of the citizens of the district can be very powerful.

The following provides some tips and suggestions. This is only a guide. Your experience, knowledge of local politics and priorities, and your dynamics with your legislator will all influence your meeting. Trust your instincts and establish a connection with your legislator. Even if their response is not as positive as you would have liked, you’ve put bicycling on their radar screen. Some legislators may never support our issues, but your meeting will expand their understanding and potentially temper their opposition.

Don’t be nervous. Legislators meet with citizens all the time. If your presentation isn’t polished, that’s okay. You’re the real thing, voters from their district, citizens who care about a piece of legislation. You’ll feel fantastic after the meeting.

BEFORE SCHEDULING A MEETING
Researching your legislator is essential. Know what committees they serve on. Understanding the legislator’s background and interests can help you craft your pitch. Find your Representative. Find your Senator.

If one of your Senators sits on the Environment and Public Works Committee, or if one of your Representatives sits on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, know that they will be the key members crafting the reauthorization legislation and their early support is crucial.  However, all members will have a vote on final passage and all House members can take action on Enhancements and the Safe Routes to School bill, so their support is also necessary if we are to be successful.  The bottom line, meet with everyone!

SCHEDULING A MEETING
First, call the legislator’s district or state office (not the national office), introduce yourself and say you would like to set up a meeting. You’ll generally be referred to a scheduler, probably in your home state, occasionally in Washington. Tell them you’d like to bring a small group from the bicycle community to talk about bicycles in the reauthorization of TEA-21.  You can follow up your phone call with a fax.

If your target is a Member of the House of Representatives, the request for a meeting should come from someone in their district. So, if you don’t live in the Representative’s district, recruit someone good from their district and have them make the call.

Don’t wait too long for them to get back to you. Some offices are very responsive; others ignore a lot of requests. If you haven’t heard back in a week, call them again and politely resubmit your request. Your meeting may be scheduled well in advance, but you may also get a call one day saying “the legislator has a half hour free tomorrow, can you come in?”

Be sure to identify your team before you get the call.

YOUR TEAM
Think about who are your most credible spokespeople. Some of the best:

• A sophisticated and articulate advocate: the policy expert who understands how ISTEA and TEA-21 dollars have been spent in the state, the importance of the Enhancements program and the potential of Safe Routes to School. The advocate or someone else from the team needs to have a good grasp of the America Bikes “ask.”
• A bike shop owner: small businesspeople enjoy great credibility with legislators. Talk about the number of people you employ, the sales volume, how new facilities have increased your business. There’s nothing wrong with asking legislators to help improve your business.
• The leader of a big bike club: especially good if a lot of members of the club reside in the Representative’s district or the Senator’s home town.
• The head of a large organized tour: bring numbers and economics of your event.
• An avid bicyclist who knows the legislator: a whole lot of politics is about relationships. Having a friend of the legislator on your side can make all the difference;
• Someone from the public health community who can talk about obesity and the need for more physical activity.
• A cyclist who contributed money to the candidate. List of contributors. 

Generally four or five people are the most you want at a meeting. The whole team needn’t be experts on the nuances of federal transportation funding policy, but everyone should know why they’re at the meeting. Everyone needs to be professional and articulate and not embarrass the group by going off on some side issue.

HOMEWORK
Everyone on your team should be familiar with the basics of the America Bikes Agenda.

Before the meeting, the team should review the purpose of the meeting and decide who will say what. It’s often helpful to gather near the meeting place a half hour before the appointment to go over your message.

Appoint someone from your team to take notes. The information you gather is very valuable to the America Bikes team. We want to know where your legislator stands on our issues, and why he/she likes certain aspects or has concerns. That information will help America Bikes figure out how to move your legislator in a positive direction.

AT THE MEETING
Some legislators and staffers like to chat, others want to dive right into business. Chatting is fine, but be aware that schedules are tight, and make sure you have enough time to get your points across.

Your primary spokesperson should say: “Thank you for meeting with us. We’re here to talk with you about the reauthorization of TEA-21.

Each team member should introduce. Your introductions should paint a picture of a lot of interest and support for bicycling in the community.

Thank the legislator for something good he or she done for bicycling. You may need to search, but you can probably find something… a time they rode a bike, a ribbon-cutting they attended, etc.

PRESENTING THE AMERICA BIKES AGENDA
Say you’re part of a nationwide coalition of bicycling interests called America Bikes. America Bikes has three main priorities under the legislation, but don’t feel that you need to go into great detail. The following talking points are probably detailed enough:

AMERICA BIKES TALKING POINTS
We are very interested in the reauthorization of TEA-21 because ISTEA and TEA-21 have been very beneficial to bicycling and walking. In the 20 years up to 1991, $40 million in federal funds were spent on bicycling and walking projects. Since 1991, that figure has grown to $2.2 billion.

• First, we want to protect the existing programs and structure of the bill. About 75% of the $2 billion in federal funding came from the Enhancements program, the rest from CMAQ, Rec Trails and other flexible programs under the bill.

• The second point on America Bikes agenda is called “build a bicycle-friendly transportation system.” We are asking that new road projects and major reconstructions be safe for bicyclists and pedestrians, if bicyclists and pedestrian travel is allowed. TEA-21 says that bicyclists and pedestrians should be considered for accommodation in all projects. We have found that “considered” is a weak word. (Realize that the legislator probably works closely with your state’s DOT, so don’t be too critical of the DOT in your meeting.) If bicyclists and pedestrians are thought about during the design and planning stages of a project, usually the cost of accommodating them is minimal. In 2000, the FHWA put out guidance for accommodating bicycles and pedestrians on roadways. The language is very good, but unfortunately, it is only advisory. We’d like to see that language codified in the reauthorization of TEA-21. Many new roads in suburbs are designed for high speed traffic with little thought for how pedestrians will cross or bikes will navigate the roadway. (Point out an example of a particularly bad road project in your area).

The ask: Please require the accommodation of bicycles and pedestrians in new road projects.

• Finally, we would like to see a strong Safe Routes to School program incorporated into the legislation. A recent study found that while 70% of today’s parents bicycled or walked to school, only 18% of their children do. This lack of activity contributing to child obesity, congestion and less interaction among neighbors. We would like to see the reauthorization of TEA-21 include a strong national program with funding for both infrastructure and education to help parents, educators and community leaders make the area around schools safer and more conducive to bicycling and walking.

Responses to your pitch will vary widely, depending on the legislator. Some will be polite but non-committal, others will engage in a spirited conversation. At the end of your meeting be sure to thank the legislator and tell him or her that you’ll be following the reauthorization progress closely and will stay in touch, since this issue is of such interest to you. Offer to provide additional information. Send a thank you note to the legislator afterwards. It’s a good way to remind then about our issues.

Remember, you don’t have to be an expert on TEA-21 or the America Bikes agenda to meet with your legislator. If they ask you a technical or policy question you can’t answer, say, “Let me check with the policy experts at America Bikes and I’ll get back to you on that.”

A FEW MORE NOTES:

Legislators or their staffers are likely to talk about the timing of the legislation and the funding picture. The timing of reauthorization is unclear.  There may be another extension (three to six months) but the bill may eventually be pushed back to 2005. The biggest sticking point is money. The Bush administration proposal calls for $250 billion over 6 years, the House leadership wants $375 billion, the Senate is somewhere in between. They’re wrangling over whether to raise gas taxes or not. The bicycle community has generally stayed out of the funding fray, since we’re not a big enough player to influence it significantly.

The America Bikes team would be happy to help you with any element of setting up these meetings, including brainstorming on who to invite, providing facts and figures, talking about protocol, whatever. Just let us know how we can help. Touch base with us shortly before your meeting, as we may have new materials which will be helpful.

Please let us know how your meeting went. We’re hungry for every scrap of information you can provide, as we’re trying to figure out who’s clearly supportive, who isn’t, and who is somewhere in between.

Thanks!

The America Bikes legislative team: