Effective Strategies for Reaching Local Policy Makers to Implement Policy Change

Transcription

1 Effective Strategies for Reaching Local Policy Makers to Implement Policy Change Cathy Callaway Associate Director, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network

2 Session Objectives Participants will learn strategies to counter Nanny State arguments Participants will be able to identify the best messengers for the best messages Participants will learn how to build coalition power

3 Issue Fatigue Mentality - Problem Solved! IA cigarette tax increase $1.36 Smoke-free Air Act of 2008 & resentment towards it Federal cigarette tax increase FDA authority over tobacco

4 Never-ending Battle

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6 Perceived Opposition Right to Smoke Enforcement won t work Personal Rights Personal Responsibility Parents Responsibility Individual Choice

7 Regulation protects us from those who would do us harm for the sake of their bottom line.

8 Tobacco Industry Tactic Make tobacco control advocates look unreasonable. This is a personal rights issue, not a health issue. What's next-red meat, fast food, sugar? Response: Focus on HEALTH. Always bring the argument back around to the reason for enacting the law Its not about pitting tobacco users against non tobacco users. Personal liberty has never been understood to allow one person's behavior to damage or risk damage to another.

9 Tobacco Industry Sound Bites It s the parents responsibility to prevent kids from using tobacco products, not the government s. or I quit smoking cold turkey 40 years ago. Anyone can do it without government funded services. Response: "Protecting the health and safety of the community is one of the main purposes of government. According to a poll conducted by Iowa Tobacco Prevention Alliance, 85% of Iowa voters feel it is a proper role of government to prevent kids from using tobacco and 68% of those surveyed think it is an appropriate function of state government to heal Iowans stop smoking.

10 Parents Responsibility Parents aren t the only ones who influence a child s life. We know that kids are like little sponges they soak up everything they see and hear, regardless of where it comes from. They want the gadget they saw at a friend s house, the sugary snacks they saw on TV. So we know that if we truly want to solve the issue of childhood obesity, parents can t shoulder this burden alone, and we shouldn t have to. - Michelle Obama, Lets Move

11 Hardly a Neutral Environment Tobacco Industry spends $174.2 million annually in Iowa

12 Good news! We have a voice. We can change the way companies do business. We can change laws. We can transform our schools and our neighborhoods and our cities and towns.

13 The Good News: We Can Change Health-Damaging Social Norms

14 Status Today Took Time IA cigarette tax increase $1.36 per pack 8 yrs IA Smoke-free Air Act of yrs Federal cigarette tax increase - 7 yrs FDA authority over tobacco more than 15 yrs

15 What s it Going to Take? Persistence Pressure Power

16 What is our goal? To create a long-lasting social norm change about tobacco use. not just passing a law or policy. Lobbying is prohibited by entities funded or using Federal dollars.

17 How do we reach our goal? Make it easy for decision makers to say yes!

18 What are our tools? Persuasion Information Health info Studies & Data Poll numbers Public education Pressure Public support Grassroots activities Grasstops outreach s & Letters Petitions Endorsements Lobbying is prohibited by entities funded or using Federal dollars.

19 80-20 Rule Winning campaigns should spend 80% of time on pressure and 20% on persuasion.

20 Pressure = Building Power Know it Show it Grow it

21 Know It Understand Power Who has power? Who are our allies? What motivates them? How can they be involved? Who are our opponents? What is their power?

22 Show It Demonstrate Power Public rallies Media events Petitions Earned media Letters to the editor Opinion editorials s & Letters Youth events Make the emotional connection Be creative! Lobbying is prohibited by entities funded or using Federal dollars.

23 Build It Add new supporters & allies Use relationships to grow supporter base Keep supporters & allies engaged Keep leadership motivated Be strategic to keep momentum going Recognize incremental victories and progress towards goal

24 Power Mapping Exercise Who has the power to give us what we want? Where do they stand on our issue? What do they need to hear? What arguments/information do they respond to? Who do they need to hear it from? Who do they listen to? What issues do they care about? What organizations do they belong to? Do any of us have a relationship with this decision maker?

25 Power Map Decision Maker

26 Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. -Wendall Phillips, 1852

27 Thank you! Cathy Callaway Associate Director, State & Local Campaigns American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network office cell