Lobby School Online Course Syllabus

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How to Successfully Lobby State Legislatures
(Track 1)

Course pricing: $250 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 5 days
  • Legislative Lobbying course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification

Module 1: Run time: 1 hour 19 minutes

Lobbying Fundamentals – What, Who, Where, and When

  • Legal and practical foundations of lobbying
  • There are more important people than lawmakers
  • Best place to lobby
  • Best time to lobby

Effective Lobbying

  • Keys to effective lobbying
  • Ranking of lobbying influences

Assessing and Increasing Political Strength

  • Calculus for assessing strength
  • Internal and external factors for strength
  • Increasing strength

Building Your Lobbying Organization

  • Teams and their duties
  • Planning the lobbying campaign

Crafting Your Bill and Supporting Materials

  • Writing a bill more likely to pass
  • Drafting supporting materials

Module 2: Run time: 1 hour 34 minutes

Legislative Staff

  • Classifications
  • Senior and junior staff
  • Motivating staff
  • Effective “leave behind” template

Legislative Procedure

  • Steps “idea to law” – formal and informal

Committees and Caucuses

  • Key committees
  • Lobbying the committee checklist

Committee Testimony

  • Testimony mechanics
  • “Likeability is job 1” checklist

Legislative Ethics

  • Where to find ethics requirements you must meet
  • Example lobbyist prohibitions
  • 9 R’s for ethics compliance

Campaign Contributions

  • “Thou shalt provide campaign support”
  • Contributions other than money
  • Campaign contribution checklist

Coalitions and Alliance Building

  • Candidate coalition partners
  • Coalition building checklist
  • Anti-trust cautions

Module 3: Run time: 64 minutes

Motivating Lawmakers

  • Why lawmakers have to be motivated
  • Motivating key lawmakers checklist
  • 7 motivators

Getting and Keeping the Votes

  • “Facts don’t vote”
  • Goals of lobbying visits
  • Advocacy communication
  • All presentations checklist
  • 10-minute presentation checklist
  • 3-minute presentation checklist
  • Never to do checklist
  • Votes

Actions after the Committee of First Reference

  • Next steps for your bill
  • Maintaining momentum checklist
  • Agency lobbying is the next step

Course pricing: $250 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 30 days
  • Legislative Lobbying course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification

How to Successfully Lobby State Regulatory Agencies (Track 2)

Course pricing: $100 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 30 days
  • Agency Lobbying course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification

Module 1: Run time: 1 hour 13 minutes

Constitutional and Political Foundations of Executive Agencies and Administrative Law

  • Separation of powers
  • Reasons to lobby agencies
  • Local government

Agency Model and Structure

  • Agency ideal
  • Agency structure
  • Classifications of agency decision makers

Agency Actions

  • Sources of agency power
  • Types of agency actions
  • Limits on agency action

Preparing for Agency Advocacy

  • Agency discretion to act or not act
  • Lobbying preparation checklist
  • Lobbying targets checklist
  • Listing of specific lobbying targets

Module 2: Run time: 61 minutes

Lobbying Visits

  • Goals for agency lobbying
  • Factors motivating agencies
  • Hiring and working with contractors
  • Lobbying staff checklist
  • Losing approaches

Rule Development and Adoption

  • Rule development process
  • Agency motivators to develop rules
  • Knowing when the agency will act
  • Participating in rule making process
  • Rulemaking record

Responding to Agency Rule

  • Responding to an unfavorable rule
  • Legislative review
  • Judicial review
  • Lobbying the legislature to fix rule
  • Summary of agencies
  • Legislative vs. agency lobbying

Course pricing: $100 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 30 days
  • Agency Lobbying course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification

SUPPLEMENTAL COURSES

Legislative Negotiation

Running time: 41 minutes

  • Styles of negotiating
  • Evaluating your opponent checklist
  • Gaining leverage
  • Preparing for negotiating checklist
  • In the meeting checklist
  • Negotiating tricks and how to counter them

Course pricing: $50 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 30 days
  • Negotiating course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification

Contract Lobbyists

Running time: 31 minutes

  • Duties of your contract lobbyist
  • Characteristics of the “right” contract lobbyist
  • How to hire
  • Negotiating fees
  • Working effectively with your lobbyist checklist
  • Lobbyist job performance form
  • Firing your contract lobbyist

Course pricing: $50 and includes:

  • 24/7 on demand access for 30 days
  • Contract Lobbyist course workbook
  • Lobby School professional certification