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In fact, most associations, corporations, and interest groups regularly visit Capitol Hill to meet with members of Congress to explain their issues and concerns.  Policymakers rely on this direct communication as a way to gauge constituent interest on important issues back home with voters.

 

As grassroots activity grew in importance, size and frequency, policymakers were deluged with not just their own constituents but constituents and interests from other districts and states who wanted to communicate their message to a wider audience.  As a result, policymakers needed to restrict access to only their constituents or interests that were of importance to their committee assignments. That is when the schedulers in each office became the real gatekeepers to policymakers. And, that is when constituents where divided into classes – those with official business with the policymaker and those who were there for a Capitol tour and a flag that had flown over the Capitol.

 

At ISRI, our grassroots advocates are there for official business, introducing in most cases, the industry to the policymaker and their staff.  As our fly-ins have grown larger and our issues more complex, ReMA is stretched resource-wise to schedule meetings, educate our grassroots advocates and accompany our members to their meetings.  When too many grassroots advocates felt unprepared to go it alone, ReMA simply did not have the enough staff resources to accompany everyone.  That is when ReMA needed to adjust so that we could provide the necessary attention each ReMA member deserved. 

 

At the same time, Congressional offices are making it more difficult to reach the policymaker because of additional demands including meeting with other constituents, committee meetings, fundraisers, and other events.  Subsequently, advocates are also being relied on to provide more substantial information during their meetings forcing the ‘volunteer’ advocate to become more knowledgeable about the issues and more comfortable delivering the information.  So, that is why ReMA needs to adapt to this change and ramp up its advocacy program to meet today’s needs and tomorrow’s challenges.

 

ISRI will, of course, bring all its advocates to Washington each year to advocate for the industry.  However, members will come in waves throughout the year.  This way, ReMA members are able to become more familiar with the issues while having ReMA staff guide them through their visits with policymakers.  ReMA will continue to focus on our important “key” committees where our issues are addressed while enabling ReMA members to also visit with other policymakers to broaden our reach.  By deploying smaller groups of advocates, we believe our advocates will be better prepared and more effective.

 

In addition to our grassroots advocates, ReMA will be embarking on a more focused program to build a core group of ‘uber’ industry advocates who will receive extra education, training and staff assistance.  The aim of this new group is to become a sustainable group of highly proficient grassroots advocates who will help represent the scrap recycling industry on Capitol Hill and in the states.  This core group of advocates, (known as ReMA Industry Advocates or IIA) will begin small but grow each year as the IIA members become more proficient in advocating for the industry.  (See related story under headlines.) This new program will take time but by recognizing the changing dynamics of advocacy, ReMA will be well positioned to be a leader in grassroots advocacy.