The House Budget Process Doesn't Stink. The Best Organized Campaign Wins!!!

Dear Hecate,

I hate to disagree with you but the only stink you might smell up there from the House Budget Process is from the fires being set by disappointed "ahdvocates" as Tommy Finneran used to call them, who think all they've got to do is drop off some fact sheets about investing in the future and tell a few sob stories and the legislature is going to roll over. You should have seen the State House on Wed. It was filled to the brim with delegations from school committees from all over the state, and with a parent's group called Stand for Children. Real local elected officials. Real parents and real kids. And guess what. They were able to provide each Rep with the HERO Opportunity of all time, prompting them to sit right down and write themselves an $82 million increase in school aid.

Hard Work Harry

Hecate says

Thank you Harry. You've got a point there. By the way, Humble Pie doesn't taste so bad with onions and peppers.

The House Budget Process Really Stinks

Dear Hecate:

So I got up there early this morning before the Mental Health, Mental Retardation, Disability Caucus began at 10:00. I had my list of co-sponsors, and I even talked to some of them before they went into the caucus. Apparently they got handed the so-called consolidated amendments and the Chairman of Ways and Means "sort of" read off the key points-- which line items were increased, which were "earmarked" and told them the bottom line had only been increased by $750,000. My Rep at least had taken good notes, so she was able to tell me that our amendment had failed. They didn't get any paper, there was no discussion at all. No debate, no negotiation, no vote. Some "reform process" where all the Reps have access to the making of a consolidated amendment this is. This really stinks!!

Hecate says:

To High Heaven. I can smell it up here. If enough Reps get sick of the smell, get fed up with being disrespected and disregarded, they might get up the guts and gumption to try to reform it back again to a line item by line item debate.

Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are -- you're not.

Hecate:

Thank you for the updates and advice last week. We are sooooooooooooo organized for the House budget debate. We got at least 10 calls into every single Rep over school break. We've organized rotating teams of 3 people up at the statehouse for all of this week. Our contracted lobbyist is going to help us keep track of the 90 co-sponsors of our amendment and the schedule of caucuses. We have 2 folks back at the office keeping up our network informed via email and phone. We think we've covered all the bases and are feeling very powerful. Thanks so much.


Hecate says:

Can I offer you a little piece of humble pie? As Margaret Thatcher, the great lady Prime Minister of England told me, "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you're not."

It does sound like you have covered all the bases, done all your homework, left no stone unturned, and I can't think of any more metaphors for doing all you can do in the House except watch and wait. And keep lists of everyone in the House who follows through with you.

However there is a lot you can do in the Senate during the long waits during the week of the House debate. Get your teams over to your Senate supporters, let them know all you have done and how hard you have worked. The minute you win or lose (sorry - it might happen you know) your amendment, get over to the Senate and debrief them on the particulars. Who helped you, who hurt you, who didn't follow through, who did.

Remember that first rule of Lobbying? " Elected and appointed officials make different decisions when watched by the affected constituents."

If you win your amendment in the House, it will be easier for the Senate to include it. If you lose your amendment in the House, after all your hard work, you can pitch it as a Hero Opportunity for the Senate.

My Rep is prioritizing Local Aid over my earmarking.

Dear Hecate:

I called my Rep like you told me to and asked her to communicate directly with the Speaker and the Chair of Ways and Means to express her personal committment on our amendment to earmark some substance abuse dollars to our community programs. She told me that she, along with other Reps -- maybe as many as 40 or so -- were meeting with the Speaker and Ways and Means tomorrow (Thursday) about the local aid, and until she got a commitment on adding substantial dollars to local aid she didn't want to bring up any other issues. I told her I was really disappointed. Any ideas for how I can get her to refocus her priorities.

Molly

Hecate says :

I wouldn't be surprised if there were more than 40 Reps in that meeting because the amount and distribution of Local Aid affects each and every city, town and regional school district in Massachusetts AND the final number will be announced at every town meeting, every city council and in all the local media markets. There is no other more important measure of a Reps performance that how he or she "delivers" for the district. Everything else they work for, earmarking for your local program, jumpstarting a new early education initiative, comes in second.

So wait a few days -- maybe over the weekend to ask your Rep again.

Hecate suspects that House Leadership will announce they have found a way to increase the dollars and fiddle with the formulas in ways that will make most Members happy enough to immediatly instruct their staffs to do a press release announcing that she/he had succeeded in using her/his considerable clout to protect the district from disasterous cut in local aid.

And then they'll have some time and political capital left to attend to other local matters-- like yours.

Can't Complain if You Don't Participate

Hecate:

Thanks very much for the relatively jargon -free Insider Budget Briefing Alert. I’m using it to explain to my 7th graders how the guys up at the State House in Boston decide things. Frankly, I’m horrified that the real decisions are made in literally a back room, and the public is not able to even watch and listen. When did this all start? When I interned at the State Senate 12 years ago, it took three weeks sometimes to get the budget through the House, while the Senate took a full week of debate – line item by line item.

Disgusted in Dorchester

Hecate says:

About 5 years ago the House developed these rules hoping to create a more inclusive and transparent process to the Members themselves. The Senate used to call in "bundling" in your day. (Remember the two piles named ought to pass or ought not to pass on the last night of the Senate Debate?)

Those three week debates in the House, Monday through Friday from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm, finishing up with an all night session on the last Friday before a long weekend, were tests of endurance and stamina and little more.

The leadership still convened caucuses (caucii?) in the Speaker's office, or the Majority Leader's office with a few selected Members trying to achieve some kind of consensus about how to handle major controversial issues like local aid and taxes, while all the rank and file Members debated proposed amendments to individual line items on the Floor. The Republicans were always ready to debate endlessly the smallest increase in a line item and the smallest cut.

These new rules do open the caucuses up to all the members and do provide some transparency on leadership decisions, and do force individual Members to participate in the caucus system or stop complaining about closed door leadership decisions.

How to Make the Budget Better

Dear Hecate :

We just got our budget amendment submitted to the House Ways and Means budget in Massachusetts. And, although we called around to all 40 of the cosigners of our original bill, only 32 signed on. Some of the Chairs told us that they never sign on as co-sponsors, and others just never responded. How do we get all of our sponsors to sign on to the amendment. I was told by the clerks office that they may be able to call in during vacation week to get their names on as supporters. Does it make sense for us to try? Will it make a difference?

Frustrated in Framingham


Hecate says.

While individual legislators may still call into the House clerk’s office to get their name added to any amendment it is important for advocates to understand that their energies should be primarily directed at getting key opinion leaders to deliver a personal note of support to the Speaker or the Chair of W&M on their amendment. (Especially chairs who said they could not/would not add their names to any amendments other than those that directly affected their district and or a “technical amendment” that addressed a substantive committee issue.)

Starting today, smart and savvy advocates are focusing on finding ways to get their key, most influential inside and outside advocates to deliver personal one-on-one messages to the Speaker and the Chair of Ways and Means that says……I/we really care about this specific amendment and this language/level of appropriation will satisfy me/us”.

Starting on Thursday the 13th staff from House Ways and Means began sorting out all amendments into subsets that generally fall within the departments and agencies of the budget itself , for instance the judiciary, the executive and all the individual departments, agencies, commissions within each department

Then the staff will sort out all the amendments by line item producing a document for House Leadership and the Chair of HW&M Committee that lists, by line item, all the amendments to every department and agency. The list of sponsors and cosponsors for each amendment are available by amendment for sure, and in the past, staff have complied a cross list of legislators listing all the amendments they sponsored and cosponsored.

At some point during the “vacation” week (for everybody but H W&M Staff) there will be a meeting of key House Leaders including the Chair and some members of W&M, and they will come to some conclusions about which amendments should be accepted based on the number and substance of the amendments, the number of key influential members of the House supporting the amendments and the number of well organized outside advocates who support the amendments. Staff will be then be directed to begin to draft the so-called consolidated amendments for each department, agency and line item in the budget.

When the debate begins (scheduled for April 24) the Chair of Ways and Means will move the bill into third reading, and make a defense of his budget and the Republicans will no doubt go on some about the lack of a tax cut. They may even bring up an individual amendment on revenues, or rules for the debate just to let the Republicans make their points before being voted down.

At some point --- and nobody now knows when – i.e. Monday evening, Tuesday evening, the Speaker or whoever is in the chair will begin a series of announcements “Members interested in the consolidated amendment for the (Department of Mental Health) (Department of Public Health) (Department for Environmental Affairs) (Department of Highways) etc etc will meet in the adjoining room to discuss a consolidated amendment. These “discussions” will NOT follow the order of the line items in the budget.

In the adjoining room “interested” members will be given a “draft” consolidated amendment and the Chair or Vice Chair, or a selected Committee Chair will facilitate a discussion and members will argue and negotiate forcefully if their amendment is not included, or is poorly worded. Some times they run out to the advocates standing in the lobby to get suggestions for language changes, sometimes they run into the Speakers office to complain and ask him to intercede.

While there is not an official vote inside the caucus there is always a decision announced by the presiding chair of the caucus about how the “draft” consolidated amendment has been changed, and every one in the caucus gets a printed copy. The presiding chair of the caucus goes into the House Chamber to describe the consolidated amendment and ask for a vote of the body. Members who got their amendment will stand up and say it’s a great compromise. Members who did not get their amendment will express their disappointment. (Under the rules any member can pull their amendment and offer it independently, in the full knowledge that the amendment will be rejected on a voice vote.)

Everything is strategy and timing here for the House Leadership – because they do want to finish in a timely manner, and cobble together a general consensus at the same time. The goal is to give key opinion leaders in the House something to brag about, feel good about and something that will satisfy key outside advocates.

So-- at last-- the answer to your question is --- start organizing inside and outside key opinion makers in the House to do personal notes to the Speaker and Chair of Ways and Means so that your individual amendment can be included in the draft consolidated amendment.