• Issue Briefings
• Compliance Guides
• Links and Resources
• Related Documents
• Manuals

• Advocacy - (GROW)
• Advocacy Action Center
• Regulatory Interaction
• Coalition Participation
• Crisis Assistance
• Issue Alerts

Government Relations: GROW - Government Advocacy

PMA Grassroots Employer Toolkit - Top 10 Reasons Employees Should Be Advocates

1. It Helps Your Bottom Line: Government policies can directly and negatively impact the financial resources of your company, from new regulations that require the purchase of new equipment, to new taxes that limit investment in other priorities. If your company is losing money how can that possibly be good for its employees? Working with government to prevent negative business consequences (or to encourage positive ones) can help your bottom line.
2. You Can Make a Difference: Elected officials pay attention to the people that live in their district. As a citizen, you have tremendous power to make change. All you need is a workable solution to a problem and the courage to approach policymakers with your ideas.
3. Your Voice May be More Powerful Than Others: Elected officials may sometimes pay more attention to the concerned citizens in their district than they will to business leaders or others who are perceived to have an "agenda." They need people like you to help them with their campaigns and keep them informed about what's really important to the community. Plus, they recognize that it's good PR to listen to "the people."
4. You Can Bring the Issue to Life: Pleas from businesses to "reduce this tax" or "change that regulation" are often met with skepticism. Many elected officials have the impression that business leaders care only about their personal bottom line. Only you can put a real face on the issue for elected officials, making it much more palatable.
5. You Can Help Your Company Gain Access: Any elected official who wants to keep his or her position will find time to meet or talk to a constituent. It is the number one cardinal rule that when a constituent calls, someone -- whether it's the official or a staff person -- must find time to meet.
6. You Can Keep the Conversation Civil: It's rare that an elected official will yell at a citizen lobbyist. It's just too easy for word to get back to others in the community that the elected official was not as civil as he or she might have been. Professional lobbyists, on the other hand, are sometimes considered fair game.
7. Advocacy is Easy: Using the resources available from PMA and your company, you can learn how to lobby in minutes. They will even provide you with sample letters, draft phone scripts and other resources to make your lobbying as effective as possible.
8. Policymakers Need your Expertise: Policymakers may not know a great deal about the problems that threaten the viability of your business – but you do. Help them understand those problems, as well as how to fix them.
9. Advocacy Helps Your Fellow Employees and Others: Everything that goes into a lobbying campaign will help fulfill your company's overall goal. In advocating for your cause, you are extending your benefits and services to thousands of people.
10. Advocacy is a Democratic Tradition: The act of telling our policymakers how to write and change our laws is at the heart of our democracy. It is critical to our continued evolution as a nation.