Practical tips for working with appropriations committee staff

In talking with both houses’ appropriations committee staff over the past few weeks, there are some practical tips that were shared with me for those working with the fiscal committee staff members. While some of these recommendations may seem obvious, many of them bear repeating. The following are some of the suggestions shared with me:

• Timing is important. Make sure you communicate with the consultant prior to them finishing their analysis for a bill, which is usually at least one week or more prior to the bill’s scheduled hearing. Sometimes an email is better, especially as an initial communication.
• Hearing from an advocate just days before a bill’s scheduled committee hearing does not leave much opportunity for the consultant to address any concerns or proposed amendments.
• As Assembly and Senate committees have different deadlines and rules, be sure to check in with individual committees to know what deadlines apply for letters and amendments.
• Always submit position letters to the committee on time. Many committees now list on their webpage the dates of their scheduled hearings along with the corresponding deadline for submission of bill letters for those scheduled hearings. Although the Assembly fiscal committee does not have a deadline, there is a practical one because consultants need to know of your arguments to be reflected in the analysis and shared with the committee chair.
• As a general reminder, the Appropriations Committees do not publicly list support and oppose positions on their committee analyses. Nonetheless, committee staff, when doing their briefings, know the support and opposition groups.

• Make sure the author gets a copy of your submitted letter, including the staff member handling the particular bill. This is accomplished by submitting your letter through the legislative portal.
• State clearly your position on the bill letter, definitely in the letter’s subject line. There are basically four most common positions, which are reflected in the legislative portal system: support, oppose, support if amended, or oppose unless amended.
• Ask directly for your suggested amendments, and explain clearly why the amendments are necessary.
• Keep committee consultants “in the loop” on amendment discussions and other actions or information that may affect the bill and committee hearing.
• Don’t go to the Chair first on a bill, whether in support or opposition. Go first to the author’s office, then the committee staff, and then to the Members.
• Kindness goes a long way when dealing with committee staff, which means BOTH the consultant and the secretary or assistant.
• Return phone calls and emails from committee staff promptly. There are some lobbyists who have a bad habit of either not responding or responding after it is too late to be helpful. When committee staff reach out to you on a bill, they are doing so for a reason and are usually under time constraints. In fact, I was told that “this one cannot be overemphasized.”
• Provide materials in an easy-to-use format, such as a Word document.
• Talk to committee staff about the problem you are trying to solve for your clients. Sometimes, legislation is not always the best approach.
• Avoid jamming committee staff with late author amendments. In other words, just because the deadline for amendments is 2 weeks before the hearing, the sooner you get the committee staff those amendments is always better – for you, your author, and the bill. I was advised to talk to the Committee consultant early to get clear guidance on any deadlines, as each consultant may have differing timelines and preferences.
• In addition, be aware that in the Assembly committee, they will not cross author’s amendments before referring a bill to the floor.
• Don’t forget to share your advocacy letters and support materials, as well as proposed amendments, with the relevant Assembly Republican Caucus consultant and Senate Republican Caucus consultant.
• Always identify the client you are engaging on behalf of with committee staff. And be clear what you are asking for.
• If you have amendments that will make your position change to neutral or even remove your opposition, then be very specific and clear about what those amendments are.
• If you are a bill sponsor and the committee is suggesting amendments to the bill, realize that they are doing that to help you keep your bill moving through the process.
• Do not try to go around the committee staff by talking to the Chair’s staff. Instead, share the same information with both offices. A good Member office won’t do that anyway and the consultant will never trust you. There is a difference between talking to the Chair’s staff and trying to undermine the committee staff.
• Don’t call or e-mail the committee to ask questions that can be answered by a quick glance at the Daily File or the committee’s website.
• Be judicious with your meeting requests, especially during the busiest part of the year. However, you should email your letter and apprise the consultant as the person who is available if the consultant has questions
• Try to keep any letters to the Appropriations Committee staff (and the relevant Republican Caucus staff) to the state government fiscal impact of the bill. That really is what an Appropriations consultant is writing about in his or her analysis.
• Try to get such letters to the committee prior to the week when the bill is being analyzed for the Appropriations hearing. Typically, this deadline is a week BEFORE the bill is heard in the Appropriations Committee. This applies to all bills, even those that will go on suspense.
• Also, if you are going to cite a number in your letter to the Committee, be able to explain it if asked. There have been a number of instances where a group included a fiscal estimate in their letter, but they were unable to explain the basis for it.
• When a bill is on suspense and, if applicable, suggest amendments to the Appropriations Committee staff to improve the administrative implementation of the bill. It is undoubtedly better to handle this while the bill is on suspense, rather than during the last week of session.
• Should you testify at the fiscal committee hearing? The Assembly waits until the end of its hearing before allowing public comment and only for a minute or less, and sometimes just to identify yourself, your organization, and your position on a bill. And most Members will have left the hearing room. As a result, it probably has no discernable impact on the outcome.
• In the Senate, public comment comes when each bill is considered. While the focus of your brief comments should be limited to fiscal comments, public testimony could have some impact.
• Your focus will be on committee staff who are analyzing the fiscal impact and gathering data primarily from the impacted state department or program staff. If you have valuable, specific data on the fiscal impact, that should be shared, as well as your support or opposition letter.
• Email communication is best when reaching out to Appropriations Committee consultants. Put the bill number in the subject line, be timely, and focus your questions and comments.
• Refer to the Committee’s website to determine which consultant will be handling a particular bill. If you still are not clear on who the appropriate consultant is, speak to the Committee Assistant (Senate) or Committee Secretary (Assembly).
• When proposing amendments in Appropriations Committee, make sure to also discuss them in advance with the staff(s) of any policy committees the bill went through so that they are aware of what you are requesting because the fiscal committee staff will discuss them with the policy committee staff to see if there are objections.
• While the fiscal committees generally focus on the fiscal impact of proposed legislation, they do get into the policy areas to address fiscal concerns, so your primary arguments on the policy aspects should also be briefly reviewed with staff.
• Note that the Assembly and Senate fiscal committee chairs’ staff are also involved in these discussions. As a result, for your primary bill(s), be sure to touch base with the chair’s personal staff.
• In the Appropriations Committee, policy, fiscal, and political considerations can all play a role in the decision-making process. Do not ignore any of them in your advocacy efforts.
• The fiscal committees are primarily charged with reviewing public sector costs. It is not private sector fiscal impacts, although those costs can be significant and may result in a bill being held on Suspense. As a general rule, the analysis will not mention private sector costs in the “fiscal effect” section, but they may be set forth in the background, particularly when they may be the bill’s most significant effect.
• On average, from 65% to 75% each year of the bills on the respective Suspense files get a do pass or do pass as amended motion. So, you have a better than average chance of a bill passing the fiscal committee. Note, as well, that about 1/3 of the bills sent to the Appropriations Committee do not get sent to the Suspense File at all.