A Program for Judges and Court Administrators Involved in Legislative Processes
Practical Pointers
The practical pointers described here deal most immediately with the situation where a judge or court manager is required directly to interact with a legislator, legislative staff or a legislative committee. These pointers reflect the combined experience of many long-time lobbyists, including especially the experience of the California Judicial Council's Office of Governmental Affairs, located in Sacramento California.
First, let's briefly review the most significant characteristics of the legislative process, since all of your interactions and communication will be in the context of that process.
- Time is limited in the process and must be used carefully.
- The legislative process is lengthy and multi-step. To be truly effective, involvement in legislative processes must begin early and continue throughout the process.
- There is a significant amount of delegation to committees and legislators to work on individual bills, and a lot of work is done in private meetings and on the phone before and in between public hearings. Involvement in legislative processes means face-to-face meetings at appropriate times and often with staff.
- Votes of committee members are often decided before a public hearing on the bill. While there often are exceptions, you should not expect a committee hearing on a bill to be a hearing on the merits where there is a real opportunity to get legislators to change votes.
- Legislators usually do not draft the language which appears in statutes. If you see drafting problems, they should be pointed out first to the author and sponsor of the bill before a hearing. Don't expect a committee hearing to turn into a drafting session.
- Decisions are made quickly. Timing is crucial, and knowledge of the politics of a bill is critically important.
We now have some practical do's and don'ts when testifying before a committee. Many of these same pointers apply equally well to face-to-face meetings with legislators or staff.