The goal of grassroots lobbying is to form working relationships with elected officials in order to provide valuable information about your issues. Grassroots lobbying can be accomplished through many different activities ranging from meeting with legislators to writing letters, and attending town hall meetings to testifying in committee regarding bills affecting the industry.

The session is a critical time to be politically involved in the process. Who you know and how well you know them can have a great impact, not only with your ready access to them, but with their faith and trust in you. When your good idea competes with another good idea, these types of relationships can be extremely beneficial. Here are some ideas on how to help during the session:  

1. Take the opportunity to let TLTA know of relationships/contacts you have with legislators. The most successful programs are those with active participation at the grassroots level. The feelings of the constituents back homes weigh heavily in a legislator's decision making process.

2. Attend TLTA’s Day at the Capitol and help educate lawmakers about the industry’s position on specific legislation.

3. Volunteer to testify on bills in committee or submit comments to the committee prior to the hearing to relay your support or concerns. The committee process is the best chance to influence changes to a bill.

4. Keep informed by monitoring bills as they are filed. You can access a list of bills filed daily at www.capitol.state.tx.us. TLTA’s website is also a great resource for following the progress of industry related bills.

5. Respond to Action Alerts. TLTA will send out an alert when there is an urgent need for you to respond quickly in contacting legislators to influence their decision on a particular issue and take a stand for the title insurance industry.

The legislative session is short so get prepared and be ready to make your voices heard.

During each legislative session legislators file thousands of bills on hundreds of subjects. However,, only about one-third of those bills complete the legislative process and become law. An important fact around the capitol is that “it’s a lot easier to kill a bill than pass a bill.”  

The ideas for bills come from a variety of sources. Constituent concerns are often the force that lead legislators to file particular legislation. Interest groups, such as TLTA, can also influence legislation by finding legislators who share their groups’ positions on certain issues and asking them to file bills on their behalf.

The Texas legislative process is governed by the Texas Constitution and the rules of procedure of the senate and house, which are adopted by the respective chambers at the beginning of each session. Additionally, different phases of activity typically occur within a prescribed timetable. Visit http://www.tlc.state.tx.us/gtli/legproc/process.html for a general summary of the legislative process.

Quick Facts on the Texas Legislature

• The Legislature meets every odd-numbered year for 140 days, beginning the second Tuesday in January. Please visit the TLTA Legislative page for a list of important dates.

• The Legislature is bicameral, which means it has two houses or chambers: The Senate is composed of 31 senators, each of whom represents about 672,000 citizens. The House of Representatives is composed of 150 representatives, each of whom represent about 139,000 citizens.

• Legislators earn an annual salary of $7,200.

• The Lieutenant Governor, who is elected statewide, presides over the Senate. The Speaker of the House, who is one of 150 locally elected representatives, is elected by his peers in the House.

• The legislature’s final adjournment is called Sine Die, which literally means adjournment “without a day” specified to reconvene.

Political involvement is nothing more than building relationships; the most important part of the process is establishing communication with candidates and officeholders. Communication should take place year round, especially during the campaign. The campaign is often the easiest time to start relationships with potential officeholders because they are seeking guidance and input on positions they can demonstrate to the public. Once elected, officeholders will remember you helped them in their campaigns which will help place you in an influential position.

Legislators determine their positions based on input from constituents and other related industry groups so we must advocate our position or we risk allowing others’ agendas to shape policy in ways harmful to the title insurance industry.

To be effective in communicating you must stay informed about the issues and the process. Be sure to set up your own bill tracking list through Texas Legislature Online to keep up with a bills’ movement and progress. Check the TLTA website daily for updated information and be sure to read Dateline Austin. If you do not feel confident discussing a particular issue, do some research and feel free to contact other members for their input, or the TLTA staff for additional resources.

When you are prepared and well-informed about the issues you can easily respond to legislators’ inquires on bills affecting the industry. You become a valuable resource to the officeholder and their staff.

Meeting face to face is always best, but research shows that old fashion letter writing is still an effective means of communicating with legislators. However, try to limit your letter to one page and be sure to ask someone to proofread before mailing. During the session when there simply isn’t enough time to schedule a meeting or send a letter, it might be necessary to make a personal phone call. Whatever form you choose to communicate, it is important to follow the guidelines below:

1.   Familiarize yourself with the issue beforehand. (Inside tip: put a local spin on any issues discussed to let your legislator know how they are going to affect the constituents in his district).

2.   Identify yourself as a constituent and as a TLTA member.

3.   Very important – know the bill number. Check the TLTA website for list of bills

4.   Don’t beat around the bush - state your position on the issue. Officeholders’ time is just as valuable as yours, especially during the busy session.

5.   Tell your legislator what you would like them to do (vote for or against or amend a bill).

6.   Ask for the legislator’s position on the bill or issue. They might not feel comfortable giving it to you, but at least you asked.

7.   Report your findings to TLTA. You might find out valuable information that the lobby team does now know about a particular bill.