State Rep. Villarreal hosts workshop on learning to lobby
State Rep. Mike Villarreal (D-San Antonio) hosted a workshop today on effective ways to lobby your legislator at the VIA Metro Center. Speaking before a full room Villarreal provided information on the five steps he has found to be effective when lobbying legislative issues with your legislator, both House and Senate, in Austin. The information is timely since the Lege is in session in Austin now so everyone has an opportunity to effect change through the process. Now an annual event sponsored by Villarreal, the workshop was free to participants with lunch provided and partially sponsored by USAA. Villarreal also provided information on the critical issues he sees during this session of the Lege.
During the 81st session of the legislature Villarreal sees three issues as being very critical this year. The first is passing a budget in a recessionary constrained year. Currently Texas is facing a budget deficit due to the contraction of the economy. Villarreal said that with the help of stimulus money Texas stands a better chance of making up some of the deficit but priorities on spending will become key challenges for the legislature.
Another issue is transportation issues in the state. Villarreal said that he plans to introduce a bill related to provide new revenue streams for local organizations to make an investment in transit related issues. It would provide more local control over transit approaches and would require that voters have final say on the initiatives. Each initiative would be evaluated on a project by project basis.
Finally college afforability will also be a key issue in the legislature. In sessions past higher education played a back seat role to secondary education in terms of funding and resources. Villarreal said that it’s higher education’s time to get some attention. Based on the feedback in the room Villarreal’s take on the matter and public interest seem to show that higher education does need a focus this year. Several people expressed concerns on issues ranging from funding for trade and professional schools to a study by the University of Texas in December of 2008 that states the school will have to reject all graduates of Texas high schools that are not in the top 10%.
Some of the take-aways from the workshop include the following:
- Know your legislator by researching information on the Internet or through the Texas Legislative Resource Library.
- Always come to your legislator’s office for an appointment with an “ask.” Villarreal said that one of the key things people forget to do when they visit him is to ask him to take some sort of action for them.
- Follow information on the legislature through a variety of resources. Two that Villarreal follows himself are Harvy Kronberg’s Quorum Report and Paul Burka’s Burkablog.
- Follow key legislation you might have on the Texas Legislature Online website. You can even be alerted to bill status through the My TLO link.
The information for the workshop is provided on Villarreal’s website, Leaders Listen. As always, Rep. Villarreal is great at engaging constituents in the process. To that matter Villarreal has sponsored a workshop on property taxes on Thursday, March 19th, at 6:30 p.m. at Bonham Academy, 925 S. St. Mary’s St.
