The following is a special message from Beaman Floyd, TCCTA Lobbyist, concerning the upcoming Regular Session of the Legislature, which convenes January 13.
I'VE GOT MY RIGHTS! LET'S USE THEM
With the 81st Legislative Session upon us, those who work in public affairs are gearing up for the long season of public hearings, office walking, elbow throwing in the lobby, and everything else that goes with democracy in our State Capitol. Even now, I’m buying comfortable shoes, shopping for a new phone battery, and preparing for five good hard months of working with policy makers on legislation.
Several issues vital to community college faculty members are already under discussion, including base funding of community colleges, course transfer, employment benefits, instructional materials, and various incentive and efficiency proposals. Certainly, there will be ample need for those comfortable shoes.
Even though the issues are many and serious, they are seldom the first thing I discuss with legislators and staff. Instead, when I walk into a legislative office on behalf of TCCTA, the first things I do is describe TCCTA and its members. I talk about more than sixty years of hard work to improve the community college faculty in our state. I talk about 6,000 voluntary members spread across every legislative district in the state. I talk about our activities, positions on legislation, and communications structure.
When describing TCCTA, I am describing an outstanding grass-roots structure with real experience and expertise in the challenges and opportunities being encountered by community colleges on a daily basis. By being a member of TCCTA, you are exercising both your freedom of speech and freedom of assembly in a very real way. I get to see the initial effect of your exercise of these rights when, as I describe the size and staying power of TCCTA, those I’m speaking with sit up and take notice.
But our visits to the Capitol on your behalf are only a small part of TCCTA’s potential. The real power comes when you represent the organization as its constituent members by discussion important issues with your legislators. My best visits start with me mentioning a subject, and a legislator replying that he or she has already learned of the issue from a constituent, allowing us to proceed straight to potential solutions.
One of the best values of TCCTA is in informing you of the issues in real time and helping you make positive contact with policy makers. Please pay attention to the Web site’s “News” and Blog entries, as well as any e-mail Legislative Updates that come your way. Read the Guide to Political Participation under the “Legislative Resources” portion of the site.
And—this is very important—plan to attend the Community College Day event at the Capitol, on February 19. (More information will be published in the forthcoming December issue of the Messenger.)
You, in turn, become TCCTA’s most valuable resource in affecting public policy at the Capitol by communication with your government and being part of the assembled voice of community colleges. When done well, we get to see democracy at its best, and can say with confidence that not only do we have our rights, we are using them.
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