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Russell Harrison Senior Legislative Representative Grassroots Activities
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IEEE-USA Government Affairs Representing IEEE members in the United States to Congress, the media, state and local governments. Rep. Rush Holt (D-NJ-12)
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The Stimulus Bill $1.6 billion, DOE Office of Science $400 million, ARPA-E $2 billion, NSF research $100 million, NSF scholarships $220 million, NIST research $400 million, NASA science $22.5 Billion Direct $240 Billion Indirect
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Cap and Trade Tons of money Smart Grid Standards Renewable Energy Incentives Energy Efficiency No Nuclear
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Immigration Reform Permanent residents are better than temporary workers. Increase EB Visa program Expand country caps Dependent exemption Graduate student exemption Reform H-1B program Congress is just now drafting comprehensive immigration reform
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Small Business Administration Strategic Alliance Memorandum Improve communication between SBA and technology engineers Give engineers better access to SBA personnel Give SBA better access to engineers
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K-12 Education Adding engineering to K-12 curriculums Expose students to technology and engineering concepts Focus on middle schools
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Other issues Pension reform Intellectual property reform Health IT Open Access Green Jobs
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What do Lobbyists Do? Advocate Positions Bridge between voters and politicians Research Problems & Solutions
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What do Lobbyists Do? Advocate Positions Bridge between voters and politicians Research Problems & Solutions
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This is not bad. It is exactly how the system is supposed to work. _________________
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Democracy’s Secret Strength
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A Politician’s World YOU
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What do politicians want? A chance to impress you. A chance to help you Anecdotes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid Senator Chuck Schumer
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Taking the Initiative Percent saying the following had “some” or “a lot” of influence over their boss. Visit from constituent – 99% Letter from constituent – 96% Lobbyist – 93% Form Letter – 65% Congressional Management Foundation
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Taking the Initiative Percent saying the following had “some” or “a lot” of influence over their boss. Visit from constituent – 60% Letter from constituent – 44% Lobbyist – 15% Form Letter – 3% Congressional Management Foundation
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Life of a Grassroots Message Sent by a voter. Read / listened to by a kid. Sorted by issue into a folder. Response sent. Read by a senior staffer when: A decision needs to be made on how to vote, or The folder reaches a specific size. Impact: Bring attention Decide as vote
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What’s His Point? Personal Contact Matters
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How do you get Congress to give you $240 Billion? Ask Ask Again
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Stories Rock River – Cheap entertainment Seattle – Engaging politicians California – Students efforts New York – Education our Leaders Pittsburgh – Embarrassing the Powerful IEEE-USA in SLC – Powerful Speakers
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IEEE-USA Grassroots Legislative Action Center: www.ieeeusa.org/policy/lac Washington Fly-Ins Education: Feb. 8 -9 R&D Funding: April 28 – 29 Energy: May 17 - 18 Washington Fellows Campaign Workshops Policy Committees
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“In order to manage increased constituent communications, our office has shifted resources away from other priorities.” Source: Congressional Management Foundation 50%
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How helpful is it for messages from constituents to include the following? Source: Congressional Management Foundation
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Money $4 Billion in 2008. Why ? Because they have no choice.
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Tools of the Political Trade TV / Radio Ads Mailings Hand-Delivered Lit Phone Calls Personal Canvassing $1,000 per vote $320 per vote $29 per vote $24 per vote $13 per vote
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