Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make Lobby Day 2023 a resounding success! We’re looking forward to seeing you in 2024!
Lobby Day 2023 Recording (includes opening remarks, keynote address, & Advocacy 101)- Link here
Check out the Lobby Day schedule here!
Watch this 15-minute video conversation between Hunger Advocacy Fellow, Savannah Jorgensen, and California EnviroVoters Legislative Affairs Manager, Fatima Iqbal-Zubair, surrounding 3 environmental bills that will likely be Lobby Day bills.
Learn more about our 2023 Lobby Day bill priorities here!
FAQ
A legislative visit is a meeting with a legislator or their staffer. A meeting with a staffer is just as valuable as a meeting with a legislator because they often are more in the weeds in particular policy areas and legislators rely on staffers for information. All meetings will be virtual.
You might meet with your legislators, but we will be spreading our network out to meet with key decision makers for the particular bills we are following. This means focusing on legislators on certain committees and who might be on the fence on their vote.
If you are not able to meet with your legislator during Lobby Day, you can always schedule a meeting, call, or email to share your thoughts. Because we have more political power when we come in numbers, organizing a small group of 5-10 people from your church can increase your impact on your representatives.
Please join us for as much as you can. You are free to step out if needed to tend to professional or personal matters. Please make a note in your registration form if you cannot join us for the whole day.
We will offer a Zoom room throughout the day from ~11:30 am – 3 pm for folks to debrief their legislative meetings with each other, relax and chat, brainstorm additional advocacy, etc. Café details will come out in an email to registered participants. Also, if you cannot be with us on Lobby Day, you are welcome to hop into the café for a bit to see what’s going on in meetings and see how you can help! Please email Savannah Jorgensen at sjorgensen.loppca@gmail.com if you would like the Zoom information for the café when it becomes available.
Lobbying is a form of advocacy work that involves directly meeting with political decision-makers, whether elected or appointed. Many of us have heard of lobbyists in Washington, DC, and while we tend to think of lobbying as something only corporations do, anyone can lobby. Lobbying is simply talking with your legislators about your priorities and asking them to listen, and bringing your network to the table to back them up when decisions get hard, and stakeholders pull legislators in multiple directions.
California has two legislative houses, the California State Assembly and the California State Senate. Both base representation on population, but the Assembly has 80 members and the Senate has 40 members.
Find your representative here.
***Note: the previous website linked here for finding your representative was outputting incorrect districts in some addresses. Please use the updated link here now. Scroll down until you see the map. Click to display the Final Map version of the Senate and Assembly districts in the layer window. Then just type in your address and click on the location dot that pops up to scroll through your districts.***
Bills may be introduced in both chambers. Each bill must pass through the first chamber’s committees before being voted on by the whole chamber “on the floor.” After passing the first house, the bill moves through the same process in the other house. If successful, the bill goes to the governor’s desk. The governor can sign or veto a bill.
We suggest wearing something business casual–something you feel comfortable in. Wear smaller jewelry as you will have to go through metal detectors when entering the legislative swing space building. We also recommend you wear comfortable shoes as you will be walking between meetings and such throughout the day.
You need to have a notebook and pen or pencil to take notes. Bill related fact sheets, the schedule, legislator information, and your group information, will be provided to you upon arrival at St. John’s and via email prior to Lobby Day. Otherwise, just bring your interest and enthusiasm!
Lobby Day 2023 will begin at 8:30 am on May 17th and run until 3:30 pm. If you have a very long drive or will be flying in, we suggest you arrive the day beforehand to ensure you will be on time and not miss any of the trainings and speakers on Lobby Day.
The nearest hotel to St. John’s is the Residence Inn by Marriott, Sacramento Downtown at Capitol Park. If you have any additional questions about lodging or travel, please reach out to Savannah Jorgensen at sjorgensen.loppca@gmail.com.
We’re so glad you want to volunteer to facilitate legislative meetings! Please indicate that you’re willing to volunteer on your registration form and we will reach out to you directly with more information. Otherwise, you can also reach out to Savannah Jorgensen at sjorgensen.loppca@gmail.com about volunteering in any capacity.
Yes! We’ve booked a shuttle service for the day that will take half-hourly trips between St. John’s and the swing space for meetings for those who need it or if it rains.
Any other questions?
Email Savannah Jorgensen at sjorgensen.loppca@gmail.com